A&E DEMAND UP BY 6,000 A WEEK
THE NHS 111 phone helpline has plunged accident and emergency units into chaos by sending 6,000 extra callers a WEEK for walk-in hospital treatment.
The number of people who were advised to go to A&E in the 2013-14 financial year was 526,500, the Government revealed.
But in eight months to November last year – before this winter’s crisis – the figure had ballooned to 515,500, an average extra 6,000 a week. The 111 helpline replaced the popular NHS Direct in 2010 and in its first eight months only 7,400 people were told to go to A&E.
Doctors blame unqualified 111 call handlers for tipping A&Es into meltdown. NHS Direct call lines had been manned by medically qualified staff.
Earlier this month every NHS trust in England failed to meet its emergency care targets. In the lead- up to Christmas, more than 400,000 patients had to wait longer than the target four hours to be seen.
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the Sunday People: “Labour warned David Cameron that scrapping the reliable NHS Direct service was a serious mistake.
“His decision to replace nurses with call handlers is piling pressure on England’s A&Es.” If Labour wins power in May Mr Burnham will get nurses to handle calls to reassure patients they’re talking to someone medically qualified.
More than 750,000 of the 8.7 million calls made to 111 last year triggered the sending of an ambulance.
A&E referrals peak at weekends when GP surgeries are shut. There was a 446,000 increase in the numbers of patients visiting A&E last year on 2013.
Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, told MPs the figure was: “The equivalent of nine extra emergency departments.”
He added: “And we haven’t built or staffed nine extra emergency departments in the last 12 months.”
Professor Keith Willett, of NHS England, said: “NHS 111 is doing an excellent job protecting both A&E and ambulance services from unnecessary attendances and call outs.” Health minister Lord Howe insisted: “It is a myth that NHS 111 makes matters worse.”