Question reference: S6W-06607
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 15 February 2022
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the waiting time for people to speak to a medical professional when phoning NHS 24.
Answer
As a result of increased demand and changes to service delivery, we have increased funding to NHS 24 by over £20m this year for additional recruitment and the addition of a new call centre in Dundee, which opened in December.
This is supporting the additional recruitment of 575 full time equivalent call handlers and 140 full time equivalent clinicians to date, including through the recently established 24/7 mental health hub.
Engagement with patients has shown NHS 24 that a focus on ensuring patients receive the appropriate advice, first time, rather than answering their call as quickly as possible is preferable. However, patients with serious and urgent conditions will always be a priority.
Callers to NHS 24 will initially have their symptoms triaged by a call handler before being passed on to a clinician within the Service or to another area of the health service best placed to meet their needs as appropriate.
Both Scottish Government and NHS 24 is committed to ensuring that the patients journey through the health care system is a quick as is possible and patient safety remains the key focus as we continue to enhance the 111 service.