UK News Electronic Telegraph Friday 27 December 1996 Issue 581
New medical hotline to ease 999 pressure
By George Jones, Political Editor
A TELEPHONE hotline telling people where to get medical help to ease
pressure on the 999 system is to be introduced in parts of Britain
next year.
In an interview with TheTelegraph, Gerry Malone, the Health Minister,
announced that the Government intended to give the go-ahead for the
new 24-hour service to be piloted in several districts across the
country. It will have a freephone four-digit number which will be
available seven days a week.
At the end of the line will be a trained operator, probably a nurse,
able to assess the nature and seriousness of a caller's problem and
how it should best be dealt with. The operators will be able to
dispense health advice and tell callers whether they should wait until
morning before getting professional help - or call ambulance or a
doctor. The service will also guide people to social services, mental
health carers, dentists and 24-hour pharmacists who could solve urgent
problems at night and weekends.
The aim is to reduce pressure on 999 operators, accident and emergency
departments and GPs, the three services that people turn to
immediately during most emergencies. Mr Malone said the new hotline
was not intended as a substitute for the 999 service or as a "second
class" entry into the National Health Service. "It is the opposite. It
is improving access to proper services and ensuring a higher quality
of care," he said.
Glasgow is one of the cities where the new hotline may be tested. Mr
Malone said it had co-ordinated out-of-hours services run by GPs that
were close to accident and emergency departments across the city. The
decision to try out the "hotline" reflects growing concern at the
pressures on hospital and accident emergency departments, particularly
during the winter.
A report presented to ministers last month said there were
"unmistakable signs of pressure" on the emergency care system.
Hospitals across the country came under intense pressure last winter
to cope with surges in demand for emergency admissions. There has also
been a consistent increase in recent years in the number of 999 calls
being made and in the number of new attendances at hospital casualty
units - with minor emergencies accounting for much of the pressure.
Mr Malone confirmed that the Government was also looking at a public
education campaign on basic life-saving skills in order to help people
deal effectively with health emergencies. The campaign would teach
people how to recognise an emergency, how to treat it and how to seek
further assistance.
Mr Malone said: "It is a question of not only educating the public how
to handle emergencies but how best to access the best help."
--
Lynn Woods - Adastra Software 01303 264803
(Come on you Clarets)
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