NHS Direct - under pressure on busiest day of the year

Patient helpline, NHS Direct are expecting a massive 30,000 calls today (28 December) said UNISON, the UK's largest union. Today will see the service stretched to breaking point with staff struggling to cope with their busiest day of the year. Staff are working over most of the Christmas holiday period, because a £20m funding cut, has put pressure on remaining staff to keep the helpline going.

Over the past few weeks the number of calls to the helpline has rocketed. Demand has been fuelled by patients having difficulty getting to their GP surgeries because of the snow, and by rising levels of winter flu, chesty coughs and people asking for advice following slips on icy pavements.

Karen Jennings, UNISON Head of Health, said:

"Staff are expecting their busiest day of the year. With GP surgeries closed over the Christmas holidays, worried parents and families turn to the helpline for much-needed advice about sick children or relatives. If the snow gets worse the helpline will be struggling to cope with a

"However, NHS is a service under severe strain because of a £20m cut to its budget this year. This puts pressure on the remaining staff who, nevertheless, have struggled through the snow to get into work and are working extra hours over the holiday to cover the expected peaks.

"It is time that the Government put NHS Direct on a more secure financial footing and gave it the money that it needs, to do the job it is being asked to do. Sadly, some GPs complain about the service, but many will be putting the NHS Direct number on their answerphones before heading off on their Christmas break."

In the week before Christmas NHS Direct was swamped by calls because many people could not get through the snow to see their GPs. On Saturday 18th December the service took 26,000 calls and that high volume of calls was repeated on Sunday 19th - double the usual number of calls.