HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 cc206-7W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of nurses NHS Direct will employ in England by 2006; and if he will make a statement. [160340]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The forecast from the latest NHS Direct capacity improvement plan estimates that NHS Direct will employ 1,550 nurses by April 2006.

Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of calls to NHS Direct resulted in the caller being advised to attend(a) accident and emergency, (b) an NHS walk-in center and (c) a primary care surgery appointment in the last year for which figures are available. [162056]

Ms Rosie Winterton

The proportion of calls to NHS Direct that resulted in the caller being advised to attend accident and emergency, a NHS walk-in center, and a primary care surgery appointment in the last year for which figures are available are set out in the table.

Disposition Percentage of total calls
Accident and emergency 7.5
NHS walk-in center 0.3
Primary care surgery appointment 9.9

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the target time is in which to answer calls to NHS Direct; and what the target will be after 1 April. [162262]

Ms Rosie Winterton

NHS Direct's performance is measured on a daily basis against eight service delivery targets. The service delivery target set for NHS Direct to answer calls, is 90 per cent. of calls to be answered within 30 seconds. The service delivery targets are consistent with the out-of-hours standards and they will therefore be adjusted in line with any changes to the out-of-hours accreditation standards.

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the target for the percentage of calls to NHS Direct to be answered is; and what the target will be after 1 April. [162263]

Ms Rosie Winterton

NHS Direct's performance is measured on a daily basis against eight service delivery targets. The service delivery target for the percentage of calls to NHS Direct that should be answered is that less than 5 per cent. of callers will hang up before the call is answered. The service delivery targets are consistent with the out-of-hours standards and they will, therefore, be adjusted in line with any changes to the out-of-hours accreditation standards.