§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the unit cost to his Department of handling a telephone inquiry at each call centre of NHS Direct. [107083]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 27 January 2000]: We envisage the cost of NHS Direct to be approximately £8 per telephone call. This compares favourably to the cost per accident and emergency attendance £42 (1997–98) and cost per general practitioner contact £10.55 (1996–97).
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state in respect of each call centre of NHS Direct(a) how many telephone calls were received from members of the public, (b) how many calls were answered by an answerphone or other courtesy message service, giving in each case the time and duration of the calls, (c) the average duration of a call and (d) how many callers were advised to contact their general practitioner in each week from the week beginning 1 November 1999 to date. [107079]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 27 January 2000]: The number of telephone calls answered by NHS Direct at each call centre is shown in the table for November and December and for each week since 20 December.
The number of calls answered by a message or an answerphone is not collected. Over the Christmas and new year holiday period, the standard call-centre practice of using messages to inform the public about the service was incorporated into NHS Direct.
As with any new telephone-based service, call lengths reduce over time as operators become more familiar with their system. Call lengths for nurse triage calls in December averaged about 12 minutes.
The proportion of callers advised by NHS Direct to contact their general practitioner averages about 40 per cent. each month. 903W
Breakdown of calls per call centre Site Total calls Average call duration North East 64,517 453.33 East Yorkshire 16,222 554.50 West Yorkshire 54,049 302.73 South Yorkshire 12,542 464.69 Lancashire 54,266 361.02 Manchester 54,469 433.27 East Midlands 51,903 353.33 West Midlands 82,860 466.95 Beds and Herts 18,732 469.55
Callers advised to contact their general practitioner site November December 20–26 December 27 December-2 January 3–9 January 10–16 January 17–23 January North East 2,553 3,420 783 1,114 947 964 858 East Yorkshire 1,434 2,428 354 1,223 739 592 491 West Yorkshire 2,489 9,533 1,848 4,031 2,759 2,350 2,040 South Yorkshire — 1,373 123 233 153 138 112 Lancashire 2,143 4,298 1,031 1,702 1,247 1,126 1,023 Manchester 3,065 5,225 1,243 1,934 1,523 1,668 1,025 East Midlands 1,916 4,031 1,600 3,596 1,570 1,420 1,175 West Midlands 3,828 7,026 1,672 2,425 1,825 1,585 1,318 Beds and Herts 420 2,540 779 1,087 601 677 654 Thames Valley 2,045 3,407 813 1,168 964 962 792 Essex 2,750 4,804 960 1,508 1,122 1,071 937 West London 6,612 10,559 2,433 4,153 2,748 2,019 1,838 South East London 1,164 202 373 716 588 508 413 South West London — 4,900 485 734 542 382 483 South East Counties — — 574 751 629 548 430 West Country 3,395 10,802 808 2,465 1,957 1,889 1,778 Hampshire 1,586 3,504 888 1,346 956 987 905
§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the report his Department has received from Sheffield University on NHS Direct. [111121]
§ Ms StuartSheffield University's interim report is in the Library. This was published in March 1999. Sheffield University's final report on NHS Direct is expected shortly. Copies of the report will be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. EnnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls have been made to NHS Direct over the last six months; and what proportion of those calls were made by carers. [110735]
§ Ms StuartBetween July and December 1999 NHS Direct received more than 750,000 calls. NHS Direct nurses ascertain the relationship between the caller and the patient for every call. Details for these relationships are shown in the table for December 1999.
Percentage Self 53 Child 25 Parent 6 Spouse/Partner 8 Other relative 4 Friend/associate 1 In my professional care 1 other 2