§ 19. Ms RyanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NHS Direct in meeting patient needs. [106256]
§ Ms StuartNHS Direct has proved to be very effective in meeting patients' needs. Sheffield University's independent interim evaluation of the first three NHS Direct pilot sites found that overall 97 per cent. of callers surveyed were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received. Out of those callers triaged by a nurse, nurses advise two out of three callers to a more appropriate setting of care than the caller said they would otherwise have used.
§ 26. Dr. PalmerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact to date on access to health care of the NHS Direct service. [106263]
§ Ms StuartNHS Direct is improving access to health care by advising callers which part of the NHS to contact. NHS Direct nurses advise two out of three callers to use a more appropriate setting of care than the caller said they would otherwise have used. One in three callers are advised how to look after themselves at home. Over the holiday period, NHS Direct handled over 200,000 calls: if NHS Direct had not been available, many of these callers would have contacted other NHS services, including accident and emergency departments and the ambulance services at a time when these services were very hard pressed.