UK Government Plans to scrap NHS Direct helpline

The government has confirmed it is planning to scrap the NHS Direct telephone service in England and replace it with an alternative service.

A new 1-1-1 helpline is already being piloted in north-east England.

It was previously reported that the new service may replace NHS Direct, but now the Department of Health has confirmed it will definitely do so.

The move comes as the government curtails public spending, even though it has promised to protect the NHS.

The change will not affect existing NHS helpline services in Scotland and Wales.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced the plan to scrap NHS Direct in England during a hospital visit this week.

NHS Direct currently employs more than 3,000 staff, 40% of whom are trained nurses. A Department of Health spokesman said the ratio on the 1-1-1 helpline was “slightly less” in the pilot, but it was not yet clear what would happen when the scheme was rolled out nationally.

Critics claim the change would undermine the quality of the service by reducing the number of qualified nurses answering calls, but chief executive of NHS Direct Nick Chapman told the BBC the new helpline would be better and more cost effective than NHS Direct.

He said: “More value for money doesn’t necessarily mean that something will be worse. It will be a more seamless service.”

He said the 1-1-1 helpline’s telephone number would also be easier for callers to remember than the current NHS Direct one.

In June GPs urged the government to get rid of NHS Direct, claiming it was not cost effective.

The plan has provoked an angry reaction from Labour, with shadow health secretary Andy Burnham using it as evidence of what he claims is the government’s intention to “dismantle” the NHS.

He said: “The health secretary’s statement will stun people across the NHS.

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