Calls to 111 more than double in West Midlands – but almost half abandoned after not being answered
Calls to the NHS 111 have more than doubled in the West Midlands – but almost half were abandoned after not being answered.
The region’s helpline received more than 9,000 calls a day in March. But of those many callers gave up after being kept waiting for 30 seconds or more.
Last month’s figure of 282,145 calls was up by 135 per cent from February, and is believed to be a record for the region. A recruitment drive has been launched to help increase capacity.
It came as A&E attendances across the West Midlands plummeted, with health bosses warning that poorly people were staying away from hospitals over fears of catching Covid-19.
Across England, NHS 111 received almost three million calls in March – an average of 96,000 per day – more than doubling the 1.4 million calls received in March 2019.
Sarah Scobie, the Nuffield Trust’s deputy director of research, described the West Midlands helpline as a “critical tool” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
She urged people to be patient when waiting for an answer. She said: “The NHS has expanded capacity for NHS 111 by hiring more call handlers and developing a dedicated online service for people who are concerned.
Trend
"In March 2020, we saw a sudden increase in calls to 111 call centres. This trend is reflected in recent NHS performance stats, which has also seen the number of people attending A&E fall by a fifth from the previous month.
"This could indicate some success in the Government’s strategy to direct people with suspected Covid-19 symptoms through the NHS 111 service and take pressure off frontline services."
NHS 111 has helped bring big drop in A&E visits across the region, including a 45 per cent fall at Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital. But medics say departments are "open for business" if needed and have encouraged people not to stay away.
A dedicated 111 online service helping people to get quick advice about coronavirus received one million visitors in just under a week following its launch at the start of March.
West Midlands Ambulance Service has launched a recruitment drive for extra call handlers to help deal with demand.
