NHS Direct was the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service (NHS), established in March 1998. The nurse-led telephone information service provided residents and visitors in England with healthcare advice 24 hours a day, every day of the year through telephone contact on the national non-geographic 0845 46 47 number. The programme also provided a web based symptom checkers on the NHS Direct website and via mobile, both as apps for iPhone and Android smart phones and a mobile website.
It was discontinued on 31 March 2014 and replaced by NHS 111. As a part of the National Health Service, NHS Direct services were free, although the 0845 number was usually chargeable as a non-geographic number. Some landline providers allowed 0845 calls within "inclusive" minutes.
Users of the service, through whichever channel, were asked questions about their symptoms or problem. Common problems were often given simple self care advice, which they could follow, thereby avoiding an expensive visit to a health care professional. More complex problems were assessed by a nurse and could then be given treatment advice or referred on to another service within the NHS.
As well as these core services, NHS Direct provided a number of commissioned services throughout the NHS, such as specialised support for patients with long term conditions, access to GP and dental healthcare out of hours, and a professional response system for times of public health anxiety.
NHS Direct only provided its service for residents and visitors in England, and there are corresponding public services covering Scotland (NHS 24) and Wales (NHS Direct Wales). Northern Ireland does not have such a service.
All NHS Direct health advice and information on the website passed through a rigorous clinical check by medical professionals before it was published.
Non-urgent health queries could be submitted to the NHS Direct online enquiry service and the website also offered a confidential webchat service for those needing advice about unprotected sex or emergency contraception.
Mobile services
NHS Direct offered its full range of symptom checkers optimised for mobile devices on its mobile website and also launched stand alone 'apps' for iPhone and Android smart phones, both available in the normal app stores.
Other services
Digital television channel
NHS Direct provided an interactive TV service via Sky Interactive until 31 March 2009, when the service was closed.
The Freeview service, on channel 100 is now hosted by NHS Choices.
The digital television service contained condensed versions of many of the most common and popular health encyclopedia topics and common health questions.
Commissioned services
Although it is not well known, NHS Direct supplies a multitude of additional commissioned services within the NHS.
NHS Direct supported many local health authorities in England, including primary care trusts (PCTs), helping them to deliver high-quality healthcare to people in each region.
These services ranged from dedicated projects in particular areas, such as the local telephone helpline set up for Sandwell PCT after a dental health scare, to schemes that were developed nationwide. These include a telephone-based pre and post-operative assessment for patients having surgery, and allocating care managers to give regular coaching and advice to those with long term conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
History and background
NHS Direct was launched in 1998 after the government identified a need for a telephone health advice line staffed by nurses as part of its plans to modernise the NHS.
The aim of NHS Direct, as stated by the government in the NHS White Paper, The New NHS, was "to provide people at home with easier and faster advice and information about health, illness, and the NHS, so that they are better able to care for themselves and their families".
The NHS Direct telephone service began taking calls in three contact centres in Lancashire, Northumbria and Milton Keynes in March 1998. These original sites were set up as pilots but soon proved successful, reaching over 1 million people and earning highly positive feedback. Additional waves of pilots were established in contact centres around England until the whole country was covered by the NHS Direct telephone service in 2000.
It was reported that each call made to NHS Direct cost £25 to answer - an earlier official report had put the total at £16.
In April 2007, NHS Direct became an NHS Trust, giving it the opportunity to apply for foundation trust status. The service was shut down on 26 March 2014. A copy of the website was archived a few weeks before the official closedown.
Replacement in England
It was announced in October 2013 that NHS Direct would be closed down in 2014, following three pilots in the North East, East Midlands and East of England. NHS 111 was intended to work in an integrated way with local GPs, out-of-hours services, ambulance services and hospitals, for the benefit of patients and to help the NHS become more efficient. NHS Direct was intended to have an ongoing role, along with other providers, in helping to deliver the NHS 111 Service and, in the interim, continued providing local and national telephone and web-based services on behalf of its commissioners. after the organisation became entangled in and failed to deliver correctly a number of contracts to deliver NHS 111.