NHS 111 service ‘generating strong satisfaction levels’

The government has published new figures which demonstrate the strong levels of satisfaction among users of the new NHS 111 telephone service.

A study of the initial NHS 111 pilot sites revealed that 92 percent of callers have been satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received, with more than one million calls having been processed since the project launched in August 2010.

NHS 111 is designed to deal with non-emergency inquiries, including from patients who require medical attention, guidance about how to find the appropriate service or who are not registered with a GP.

Of those who called, 93 percent felt they were given helpful guidance, 86 percent followed the advice they received and a further 86 percent said they would use the service again.

Health minister Lord Howe said: "This report shows that NHS 111 is benefiting patients by improving access to urgent care services and ensuring they get to the right service, first time, to meet their medical needs."

NHS 111 is now live in 13 sites across the UK, with the majority of services set to be up and running by March 2013.