There was a discussion about NHS Direct, so I thought I'd forward this.
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Sent: 19 June 1998 15:09
To: CommunityUK
Subject: NHS Direct
19 June 1998
Dear
NHS Direct - Shared Thoughts.
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Recent publicity concerning NHS Direct, the 24-hour helpline run by
nurses has concentrated on the success of the pilot over the first 5
weeks. Figures for the Northumbria pilot (covering 788,000 population)
given in the NHS Magazine (Issue 13 p11) show:
* 790 calls in 5 weeks
* A staff of 10 call operators + 9 "experienced nurses" employed in a
new building on the Newcastle Business Park
On the basis of this success further sites are planned before the end of
the year with the whole country being covered by year 2000.
In Sheffield queries that are likely to be addressed by NHS Direct are
currently being fielded by existing agencies such as:
* Ourselves and other pharmacies
* Healthcall & the GP Co-op
* A+E Departments
* Healthline
* Surgeries
I only have access to my own data and that shows that Associated
Chemists undertook a survey in 1994 which indicated that we received 456
calls during our 91 hour week (equating to 2250 per 5 weeks) . 60% were
from the general public and 20% from professionals. 28% of calls were
asking for medical advice. This took up almost 17 hours of staff time. A
recent survey undertaken by Sheffield Health during a two week period in
May this year showed that Associated Chemists recorded 1249 instance of
"advice" (by phone or in person) during our "extended hours" (5.30pm -
10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am - 8 pm Sundays and Public Holidays).
No doubt other pharmacies and other agencies are providing similar
services and like ourselves receive little or no funding for this
service. It seems to me ironic that resources can be found to reinvent
the wheel, whereas oil to lubricate existing wheels is not available.
The Nortumberland pilot shows an average call rate of 22.6 calls per 24
hours - less than 1 per hour for the 19 staff to handle! It would be
interesting to know just how much money has been invested.
Has anyone looked at tweaking the existing system by means of a modest
investment of funds as a value for money exercise?
I do not believe that there is anything I can do about this other than
to draw it to attention of the decision makers and other participants.
I will copy this letter widely in the hope that someone somewhere may be
able to influence the strategy.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Bennett
Managing Director
--
Martin Bennett e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Associated Chemists (Wicker) Ltd HLC - Sheffield Mobility Shop
61- 71 Wicker 65-71 Wicker
Sheffield S3 8HT Sheffield S3 8HT
0114 272 7676 0114 272 3729
FAX 0114 272 6431 FAX 0114 276 7953
http://www.wicker.co.uk/wicker
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Regards
Jeff Green
Community Locum and Consultant Pharmacist
[log in to unmask]
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