The NHS Alliance welcomes OFCOM's decision to pilot the use of 111 as a three-digit number for patients to call when they need non-emergency health care advice and information. But while the principle of providing patients with a simpler route is to be welcomed, some practical issues will need to be addressed for the initiative to be successful.

Rick Stern, NHS Alliance Urgent Care Lead, said: "We are looking forward to working with and learning from the pilots, which will start next year in the North East, East Midlands and the East of England".

He added: "It will be vital that members of the public know when to call 111 rather than other services. We need to ensure that most people continue to contact the single biggest provider of urgent care, their local GP practices, which offer up to a 100 million same day contacts across England every year, rather than thinking they should call 111 instead."

Source
The NHS Alliance