NHS 111

Due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) crisis, we are experiencing an unprecedented volume of enquiries. Our superb teams are working tirelessly and will respond, but please be patient and supportive in light of the huge demands upon them at this time.

As one of England’s largest providers of NHS 111 services receiving over 1.6 million calls per year, we deliver these responses through the following NHS contracts, two of which form part of Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) contracts and therefore include a Clinical Assessment Service and Out-of-Hours GP service:

• Somerset 111
• Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire 111
• Gloucestershire 111
• Outer North West London 111
• Surrey IUC
• Suffolk and North East Essex IUC

We operate an efficient and resilient networked call centre model which means we can answer a call with the first available health advisor anywhere across our network. We have call centres in London, Ipswich, Dorking and Bristol. All services are rated at least ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and we are delighted to say our Bristol call centre is rated ‘Outstanding’. We are extremely proud to have been the first national 111 centre to have received this rating. You can read the full CQC report here.

Patients can call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and calls are free from landlines and mobile phones. The NHS 111 service is staffed by a team of trained and regularly audited health advisors, supported by clinical advisors who are experienced nurses and paramedics. As well as the telephone service, we provide clinical support for the NHS111 online service 111.nhs.uk with clinician assistance where the choice is selected.

Within the telephone service, our advisors ask patients questions using prompted questions from NHS Pathways to assess their symptoms, then through access to the national directory of services give them the healthcare advice they need or direct them to the most appropriate local health service. Other support can be provided through many routes which may include speaking with a one of our team in our clinical assessment services which include nurses, paramedics, doctors, pharmacists and mental health nurses.

We can arrange support for those who need to attend A&E with a booked arrival time to help improve their experience and reduce pressure on the hospital. We can also arrange home care, out-of-hours doctors, pharmacy services or attendance at an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC).

For those callers whose first language is not English, the contact centres use language line to assist with assessing the caller. For callers with hearing or communication disabilities talk-type can be used. Where possible, the NHS 111 team will book the patient an appointment or transfer them directly to the people they need to speak to. If the NHS 111 advisor thinks the patient needs an emergency ambulance, they will immediately arrange for one to be sent to them.