The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7159 p139-143
4 August 2001

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NHS Direct good but not perfect say researchers

NHS Direct is good but it is not perfect, researchers from Sheffield University say in their third report on the development of the telephone information service.

They say that NHS Direct has achieved a great deal since it was established. In particular it has stimulated changes in other services, such as out-of-hours primary care, and reshaped the way in which policymakers think about access to health care.

A series of interviews with health care providers in the three pilot areas for NHS Direct — Milton Keynes, Lancashire and the North East — found a mixed welcome for the service, with general practitioners worrying that it would increase demand on the National Health Service rather than reducing it. The need to integrate NHS Direct with existing primary care services was also raised.

Asked how NHS Direct could be developed, interviewees said that more services such as dentistry, pharmacy, social services and health visitors should be involved. Pharmacy is currently the subject of a trial in the Essex area and is to be rolled out nationally as the fourth disposition for NHS Direct next year.

The researchers reported that as the populations being covered by the three NHS Direct pilots rose, and call numbers increased, the cost of each call had fallen to around £15 at March 2000. This compared with costs of £22 for contacting a GP through an out-of-hours co-operative, £60 for visiting an accident and emergency department, and £125 for an emergency ambulance journey.

Details of the research can be accessed through the NHS Direct website (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk).

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