NHS 24 ‘lifeline’ in chaos

Desperately ill patients’ calls go unanswered for 45 minutes as ‘hopeless’ 111 service fails

ACUTELY ill patients phoning Scotland’s key health helpline face long waits for potentially life-saving help.

NHS 24 has become the main gateway to emergency hospital treatment as crisis-hit health boards beg patients to call the 111 hotline before turning up at A&E.

However, official figures reveal shocking delays as patients desperately hang on for someone to answer their calls.

One in ten people ringing NHS 24 waits for a staggering 45 minutes.

Half of all calls take longer than 18 minutes and 33 seconds to answer, while more than a quarter of calls are abandoned.

In one case, a patient waited on the phone for an hour and 23 minutes before hanging up in frustration.

As rising Covid cases and staff shortages pile pressure on hospitals, health chiefs have told people not to turn up at A&E unless their condition is ‘life-threatening’, pleading with them to ring NHS 24 first.

Last night, Scottish Conservative health spokesman Annie Wells warned that patients face ‘potentially fatal consequences’. She said: ‘It is clear that the vital NHS 24 service is completely overwhelmed.

‘While not every call will be connected, the volume of calls being abandoned, or taking far too long to answer, is deeply concerning.

‘SNP Ministers must urgently ensure that NHS 24 has the staffing resources it requires.’

NHS 24 provides vital out-of-hours advice for patients when their GP surgeries are closed – but, with Covid, it has expanded to become a crucial gateway for patients.

A total of 180,263 calls were made to the 111 number in July, the highest rate this year.

Figures show that 25.7 per cent of calls were abandoned after 30 seconds while the average time taken to answer was 20 minutes and 39 seconds – far beyond the service’s target of no more than three minutes.

In addition, a new measure of the point by which half of calls were answered leapt from just 12 seconds in July 2020 to 18 minutes and 33 seconds in July this year.

The percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds was 11.8 per cent – the lowest in the past year.

In a report, NHS 24 admitted that ‘all access targets were missed’ in July. The paper said: ‘The high levels of demand have coincided with continuing challenges around availability of staff.

‘In addition to seasonal annual leave, the high volume of Covidrelated absence (staff isolating) has added to operational pressures, particularly at peak weekend periods.

‘Covid absence reduced during the first few days of August which contributed to much improved access performance.’ However, health policy expert and former NHS trust chairman Roy Lilley said: ‘This is horrible. It’s a hopeless service.

‘There’s only one thing that measures the NHS and that’s how long you have to wait. The service needs to get a grip, figure out if they need more staff, or more skilled staff, maybe they need more lines.

‘Whatever it is, they need to urgently review this because the reputation of the service will get trashed. No one will want to work there, no one will ring them up.

‘I understand the NHS is under unprecedented pressure and everyone’s working very hard but the managers have to get these systems working. There’s no excuse.’

Yesterday, NHS 24 said it was striving to improve performance.

A spokesman said: ‘As with many organisations, NHS 24 has seen an increase in demand since the start of the pandemic.

‘In order to meet the fluctuating Covid demand and changes to the way people access urgent care, NHS 24 has been recruiting additional staff throughout the year.

‘We have made improvements to our call messaging which helps to direct people to the most appropriate service for them.

‘This means that more people will leave a call before it is answered as they choose to seek help, either via NHS Inform, their GP or their local pharmacy, which means that they no longer need to speak to the 111 service.

‘NHS 24 continually monitors its performance in order to provide the best possible service and improvements have been seen across a range of metrics.

‘In August, a higher percentage of patient calls were answered within 30 seconds – 14.5 per cent, which is more than 25,000 patients.’

Meanwhile, the number of

Scots who are in hospital suffering from Covid has risen to its highest level for six months.

There are currently 670 people in hospital, marginally fewer than the last peak in early March, when 718 people needed medical care.

Although that falls short of the second wave high of 2,053 in January, the number of people in hospital currently stands at more than the surge in admissions following the Euros football tournament, when there were 529.

New statistics also show there are 58 people fighting for their lives in intensive care.

A further 6,152 positive cases were recorded in the 24 hours to yesterday, the highest number ever tallied on a Saturday, and there were 11 deaths from the virus.

This is despite 90 per cent of the eligible population having had at least one dose of a vaccine and almost 85 per cent being given two jabs.

As of yesterday, 4,117,147 Scots had received their first dose and 3,717,587 their second.

‘Could be potentially fatal consequences’