Two points about NHS Direct
Prior to NHS Direct our A&E Doctors and Nurses were spending a great deal of
time providing telephone advice particularly at weekends and Bank Holidays.
Now switchboard and A&E reception redirect all such calls to NHS Direct. So
it has saved valuable clinical time... more time to see patients.
Also when a patient says they have been sent by NHS Direct they may not
always be telling the truth. This was demonstrated by a recent audit in
Lancs. I would also suggest that any such inappropriate patient be followed
through with a Blue Feedback Form.
I'm now waiting for the extra resources for A&E as well.
Ray McGlone
A&E Lancaster
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Bailey" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2001 6:47 PM
> RE: NHS DIRECT
>
> Fear not Mike, yours is not a lone voice in the wilderness! Personally I
am
> fed up with hearing my colleagues whinging and whining about NHS Direct.
> Like it or not, it is now part of our health care system and we [in A&E
and
> GP land] should be looking for opportunities to use it to our advantage.
In
> North Derbyshire we have worked closely with NHS Direct since its
inception
> and as a result I believe we have made some very positive progress eg
> redirecting all calls for general medical advice coming to A&E to NHS
Direct
> without our staff ever becoming involved and using NHS Direct to re-direct
> our "category blue" patients to more appropriate health care thus freeing
> the A&E staff to deal with genuine A&E problems.
> Some of the scare stories and anecdotes appearing on the list implying NHS
> Direct sends all its callers to A&E via emergency ambulance remind me of
the
> medical SHO claiming "bloody A&E, they just shunt all chest pain to the
ward
> for us to sort out". Those of us working in A&E know that for every
patient
> admitted there are many more who are seen, investigated and discharged.
> Likewise, for every patient advised to attend A&E by NHS Direct, there are
> many more directed to self care or other more appropriate agencies. Of
> course, the occasional mistake will happen [and we never make mistakes in
> A&E do we!]. As Mike Lambert says, if you receive an "inappropriate"
patient
> via NHS Direct there are blue forms available to bring the error to their
> attention so that the incident can be investigated and if necessary
> protocols amended. Surely this is a preferable and more constructive
> approach than some of the petty "NHSD bashing" that has recently appeared
on
> the list
>
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