HC Deb 12 March 2002 vol 381 cc1008-9W
Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls to NHS Direct are initially dealt with by a call handler who is not a qualified nurse. [33757]

Ms Blears

I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.

It is general practice for calls made to NHS Direct to be handled by call handlers before being passed on to a qualified nurse. Between 20 and 30 per cent. of NHS Direct's calls are health information calls and can be handled without any form of consultation with a nurse.

Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average length of time was for a caller to NHS Direct to speak to a qualified nurse in the last 12 months. [33758]

Ms Blears

I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.

For the calendar year of 2001, NHS Direct handled around five million calls. The average length of time for a caller to NHS Direct to speak to a nurse is not currently available. However, 59.23 per cent. of all callers spoke to a nurse within five minutes, and 82.35 per cent. of all callers spoke to a nurse within 30 minutes.

Mr. Peter Duncan

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls were made to the NHS Direct service during the year to 31 December 2001; and what the costs were of administering the service for that period. [30313]

Ms Blears

[holding answer 25 January 2002]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

For the calendar year of 2001, NHS Direct handled around five million calls, averaging 96,000 calls a week. The cost of running NHS Direct in 2000–01 was £80 million.