Engaging with local people on an improved NHS 111 service

Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge (BHR) Clinical Commissioning Groups, together with four other CCGs in North East London, are working to procure an improved NHS 111 service for our area. A service that meets patients’ needs and delivers the eight new national standards for Integrated Urgent Care. Nationally, the NHS wants NHS111 to become the first point of contact to access urgent health and social care, so people get the right care in the right place, first time. 

BHR are planning the local requirements and wanted to let you know, in the first instance, that they are about to begin seeking views from local people on the current service and how it can be improved. Feedback from this engagement will be used to design future service.The CCGs in North East London want to:

•      Get more people to make NHS 111 their trusted first point of call when they need urgent medical support or advice

•      Increase the number of calls that are handled by a clinician

•      Increase the number of calls that are booked directly into other services over the phone (including pharmacy, dental service and GP services)

•      Look at how patients with existing care plans or with complex needs (young children and people over 75yrs) could speak directly by a clinician where this is appropriate.  These patients could by-pass the NHS 111 assessment process, but may still have to wait in a queue for clinical assessment 

•      Provide access to more support and advice online

•      Reduce the number of patients that end up in an ambulance being taken to A&E, so these services are kept available for those who really need them

 To gather evidence and feedback about local people’s current experiences of using NHS 111 and get views on how services could be improved, please fill a simple online questionnaire. 

We’d welcome your own views and you can take part in the survey here.