HC Deb 18 November 2003 vol 413 cc865-6W
Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS Direct staff has a clinical role. [134857]

Ms Rosie Winterton

Information on each of the NHS Direct staffing groups is not collected centrally. The proportion of NHS Direct frontline staff who deal with the handling of clinical calls is 1,756. The figure of 1,756 comprises of 1,063 nurses, 543 call handlers and approximately 150 health information advisers.

Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases have been dealt with by NHS Direct; how many calls have been abandoned; how many call centres have closed; how many call centres are operational, and where they are; what the running costs in 2003–04 are of each call centre; and if he will make a statement. [136869]

Ms Rosie Winterton

NHS Direct has handled over twenty million calls since the launch of the service in March 1998. Since December 1999, NHS Direct has collected national data centrally and a total of eight per cent. of the total calls to NHS Direct have been abandoned. NHS Direct has been operating from twenty-two NHS Direct sites since October 2000 and all of these sites are still fully operational.

Running costs for the 22 sites in 2003–04 are shown in the table.

£
NHS Direct Site Running costs 2003–04
Anglia 3,615,100
Avon, Gloucester and Wiltshire 4,111,100
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3,754,904
Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull 4,412,627
East Midlands 6,327,300
Essex 3,997,750
Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Wirral 6,018,350
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 5,102,673
Kent, Surrey and Sussex 5,005,000
Midland Shires 3,976,650
North Central London 3,105,205
North East 4,848,900
North East London 2,067,000
North West Coast 5,218,529
South East London 3,480,144
South West London 2,691,449
South Yorkshire and South Humber 3,276,000
Tees, East and North Yorkshire 3,759,000
Thames Valley and Northamptonshire 4,177,866
West Country 4,955,000
West London 3,742,535
West Yorkshire 5,196,450
Total 92,839,532

Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average monthly running costs of NHS Direct have been over the last six months; and if he will make a statement. [136872]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The average monthly running costs of NHS Direct over the last six months are approximately £12,686,000 a month.