What was wrong with the service we had before?

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:06, 1 reply, 12 years ago)

NHS direct
Weellll:
1 It's number was 0845 46 47, 111 is easier to remember

2 It cost about £20 per call (this covered all expenses, like the website, health information and pandemic flu line stuff as well but still £20 a call) 111 is £7-£9

3 It was nationally commissioned and run by the Dept of Health. This didn't fit with the CCG GP lead NHS structure the coalition put in.

4 Calls weren't free
(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:11, Reply)

Ignoring points 1, 3 & 4, surely spending £20 on a more effective service makes more financial sense than spending £9 on a useless service?
Or was NHS Direct just as shit?
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:14, Reply)

NHS direct was "alright" but limited in scope.
I mean alright in the sense that it hit its KPIs about 2/3rds of the time.
And yes, that does make sense if they didn't want to spend the money elsewhere.
(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:18, Reply)

But now that NHS Direct has discovered the new service is too much like actual work
they want to pull out.

And GPs hate the new system.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:14, Reply)

Service is a piece of piss, compared to old 0845
Losing about £4 per call means that we can carry on until the cash reserves run out which is about 5-6months.

It's a mixture of management and commissioning failures. The more calls you can get the lower your price can be to a point (fixed costs paid for by first 200,000 calls a year) so a number of bids went in assuming we'd win more business, but we only won 1/4 of the population.

Main problem is that commissioning was purely on price rather than proven ability or "clinical excellence" which is meant to be the priority so you know, pay shit you get shit.
(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Jul 2013, 12:22, Reply)