Patients will be urged to call 111 before attending Shropshire's A&Es
Patients will be urged to call NHS 111 first rather than walk in to Shropshire’s A&E departments in a new move aimed at helping to manage visitor numbers and tackle potential overcrowding.
Space in hospital emergency departments has dwindled as a result of restrictions in place due to coronavirus.
The NHS 111-first policy will see people call before travelling to A&E – with patients with less serious issues advised to see a GP or pharmacist.
Those with more serious issues will be given a dedicated time slot to visit the emergency departments, with people still urged to call 999 in an emergency.
Patients, however, will still be able to visit A&E without going through the scheme.
David Evans, joint accountable officer for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups, said the initiative, which has been piloted in other areas, was expected to partially ‘go live’ in Shropshire towards the end of September, with a view to becoming fully operational later this year.
Mr Evans said: “The national plan around 111 first is that in essence it becomes the first point of contact for people.
“People ring 111 and are then directed onto other appropriate services, including A&E if they need to, but that could be minor injuries, it could be back into primary care or it could be to community teams.
“We are the second site in the Midlands that will go live with this.
"We are planning at the moment a go live in part at the end of this month, but it won’t be fully operational until later in the year.
“The early indications from a pilot they did in the south west showed about a five to 10 per cent reduction in numbers attending A&E.
"We hope it will do the same in Shropshire. We will have to see.”
