to be concerned at the Govt scrapping NHS direct for a cheaper alternative with fewer nurses?

[Desperatelyseekinginspiration]

Just read this www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11120853

Now I know complain about NHSDirect but I found them extremely helpful when dd was a baby. I won't go into it but we needed to call them a lot as she was quite sickly and the fact that I was speaking to a nurse gave me a lot of confidence in the advice given. Just don't see how it will be the same without as many nurses. Won't it become pointless?

Interested to know how other mumsnetters feel about this.

I phoned NHS24 (Scottish equivalent) with a sick baby. Always got told to take him to an A and E...for a heavy cold? I have no idea how single parents with more than one child are supposed to cope with the whole farce.

My friend was a health advisor (call handler), doing triage and she couldn't even pass her Biology higher when she was at school. The whole concept was frightening.

My friend also told me it was so badly run it was shocking. The managers spent half their time fretting if the staff wore a uniform....in a call centre...where nobody can see them.

Waste of time and money.

YABU they are crap.

Just anither govt bashing thread. Thank God we have someone in govt who is prepared to say that things can be done in a different way.

YABU

NHS Direct are a pile of crap and a complete and utter waste of money. All they have ever done for me is made me wait for two hours just to tell me to take my children to A&E or OOHs...something I would have done anyway had they not existed! And I've called them quite a few times, every time hoping they may be helpful, but I've always been disappointed. If they tell everyone every time to go, just in case it's something serious, then what is the point?

NHS direct told me i had a stomach bug, to go to bed, take plenty of fluids etc. I said 'it hurts so bad, i'm sure it's appendicitis.' 'no, no, don't be silly, if it was appendicitis the pain would be mainly in your side'.

A day later i was hospitalised with acute appendicitis. luckily dh called an ambulance before my appendix had a chance to rupture.

That said, they have been fairly helpful on occasions when dd1 has been very unwell, and are at least more 'human' to talk to than OOH doctors, who for the most part give the impression they couldn't give a flying fig.

I've actually only ever had good experiences with NHS Direct. They've always given what turned out to be good advice or reassurance, and several times when they felt I should talk to a GP they have arranged for the out-of-hours service to call me, saving me the hassle when dealing with a sick child. I think they make it very clear on the phone that the first person you talk to is not a nurse, and the second person who calls you back usually is.

So from my personal experience YANBU, and I'm concerned too. I've really valued the service, especially in the first year of DD's life when I was a ridiculously anxious parent with no easy way to get to the nearest A&E. Not quite so anxious these days!

I think there are far better ways to spend Health Services money than on NHS Direct.

It is largely a very inefficient service. Telephone triage - especially where children are concerned - is very tricky.

IMO it would make more sense to funnel money into the OOH service, increasing the numbers of doctors and nurses on duty there, and allowing them to triage face to face if needed.

marge2 - I'm really surprised A&E were advocating induced vomiting in a child at home with paracetamol overdose. It's potentially unsafe to do so and can affect management in the hospital.

I the idea is a good one but every time I've used it the end result has always been: "go to see your GP" or "go to A&E". Accurate diagnosis simply isn't possible over the phone so they always play it safe so you end up at A&E at three in morning for something that a trip to the chemist would sort.

I'd far rather the money was spent on a proper "non emergency" police number - rather like the old 101 (or whatever it was).

I have only had very positive experiences with NHS direct.

I'm pregnant with DC 2 and I just hope when he/she has a random rash/cough etc the 111 people have the patience, experience, compassion and expertise I encountered with NHS Direct.

YABU. The NHS can barely staff wards with nurses, so something has to give. NHS direct can be a useful service, but unfortunately in times where a staff nurses' shift can be taken up trying to staff the oncoming shift rather than actually nursing then NHS is just a luxury.

NHAS direct even. Actually, maybe the NHS is a luxury that we should remember we have.

YANBU.

I have used them a few times and always found them to be very helpful.

I will not use a helpline that is just some random anybody from the street reading off a list. I can do that myself in the medical book I have.

Will be signing that petition.

Melon Can't see anything Govt bashing about this thread. You know it isn't essential to agree with every policy the Govt has.

I posted this because I don't think a cheaper alternative is the anwser regardless of whatever problems NHSdirect have. I have found them to be helpful, but I can see how many think they're a waste of money.

I just don't see how replacing a "bad" service with more or less the same service, just less qualified people, can be the answer.

If a nurse felt she couldn't commit to giving advice, as many have stated, how is someone with no medical training going to be able to do this?

Doesn't bother me if it is scrapped.It seems a colossal waste of money and they just tell you to go to hospital anyway.

YANBU.

I have used the service as least three times in the last year or so when I would otherwise have gone to A&E - Ds with badly bumped head, ds and his friend eating biscuits with lashings of Dettol and me accidently taking too many painkillers after breaking my nose.

In these situations I would have thought a 5 or 10 minute phone call works out cheaper. Surely the cost to the NHS will bw more if people decide to always access face to face advice for such things if they know they won't have access to a trained health care proffessional on the phone.

My experience was the same as compo's. I think the money could be better spent elsewhere.

I think the point is though they are already paying twice, (the govt) for the phone service and the face to face one.

How many people with young kids here who have used NHS direct have been referred to an OOH dr's appt or a+e. Pretty damn high % I'd say.

They can't really take the risk with young kids and phone diagnosis. So it costs the govt for you to phone, someone to take your details, only to be told you'll get a call back. You wait 2 hours, so you know it's not a real emergency otherwise you'd have been at the hospital if you were that panicked, just for them to tell you to go anyway.

Then paying for the OOH/A+E visit, huge waste of dosh, but I personally think it should be scrapped totally and some of the saved cash put into OOH.

YABU.

It's an expensive service pandering to hypochondriacs.

feedthegoat Seriously, what do you consider "too many" painkillers? Unless you necked 60 washed down with a Johnny Walker chaser I think you need to get a grip!

YABU - it's being replaced with a service that will still be able to offer advice.

Labour are being VERY unreasonable objecting because it was [http://www.richard-lowe.co.uk/2010/08/labours-short-term-memory-loss/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter their idea first]]

oops, link properly

We don't have NHS direct in NI just OOH and it seems to work fine. You get a call back from a doctor and they'll tell you whether or not you need to go in to be seen. By the sounds of things NHS direct seems to be a very expensive middleman so I don't really see the point.

I've used the Scottish equivalent a couple of times and they were actually pretty helpful.

I have heard so many arguments for and against the service, but what DOES confuse me is that 'they' are doing this as a money saving measure - can someone tell me how scrapping a service, replacing it with a similar service, training new staff to run it, rebranding it, producing literature for it, etc etc will save any money?

The Government needs to bite the bullet and realise how much it really costs to run an effective OOH service, when they gave GPs the option to lose £4,000 salary for not doing OOH, they unsurprisingly took that option.

If you were doing a full working week, than has to do a full night on call on top of that, even only once a week for the equivalent of just over £5.00 an hour, would you do it?

Each OOH service using a GP means paying a NHS Consultant (because that is what they are) 12-14 hrs overtime. This means you get motivated and appropriately qualified people to do important job. Why should they have to work for less than their normal hourly rate?

Yes the wage bill will be high, but it may mean less use of A&E, the ambulance service and reassurance for the worried well. And yes, it may not be perfect, but telephone triage is very difficult, even for very experienced clinicians, but using GPs mean that can also be seen by them if necessary.