Statistical releases

The data in reporting is relating to NHS 24 service 111 service which provides urgent care triage if you think you need A&E but it’s not life-threatening, and advice when your GP, pharmacy or dental practice is closed.

NHS 24 implemented a new operating model in March 2020 with the aim of triaging more patients on the initial call (inbound) as opposed to calling patient back (outbound). As a result of the major operational change NHS 24 also evolved its key performance indicators (KPIs) framework over the last few years, to more appropriately align to the new operational model. The evolution also reflects the significant increase in demand and changing role for NHS 24 in delivering additional pathways such as redesign of urgent care and mental health.

The new KPI framework aims to bring the experience metrics to greater prominence; this is based on previous work to better understand what matters to callers to the 111 service and what their expectations of the service are.

The data in this publication aims to monitor two key performance areas: initial access to the service and call outcomes. The Median Time to Answer, 90th Percentile time to answer and Discontinued calls all measure patients’ initial access to the service.

Second set of data is focused on outcomes of calls; this data set also forms part of the new framework monitors impact on wider health service. Outcome data is broken down by health board and each outcome is grouped into three main categories:

• Primary Care – includes Out of Hour services and advice to Contact Own GP
• Secondary Care – includes 999, Accident & Emergency and Flow Navigation Centre
• Self Care/No Partner Action – includes advice to Self Care or to contact other health professionals i.e. Optician, Police, Pharmacist