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Easter planning

NHS Direct is planning for a very busy period between Thursday 21 April to Tuesday 3 May 2011 on account of the proximity of the four day Easter weekend and the royal wedding/May bank holiday weekend. We have implemented a number of measures to help manage this pressure:

• Staffing: since Christmas we have recruited over 100 nurses and health advisors who will be working during this period. As with all busy periods we have maximised the amount of time our frontline staff spend with patients by limiting annual leave and other activities such as training. Recent changes to our rostering system mean that more staff are working at peak times such as weekends and bank holidays. We also have 100 new home workers working on a split shift basis which means that call volume peaks can be better handled.
• Updated knowledge management system: we’ve updated our knowledge management systems so that we can find local information, such as GP rosters, as quickly as possible for patients. It would help us if you could ensure that your service information is up to date on Adastra and www.nhs.uk.
• Increased technical resilience: we have increased the resilience of both our telephone and IT systems so that they are geared up to deal with the extra demand.
• Online health and symptom checkers: we now have 40 online health and symptom checkers available which enable many patients to assess their symptoms and access self care online. They also provide the facility for patients to ‘click to call back’ for nurse advice where clinically appropriate.
• Communications to the public: a press release encouraging people to use the online health and symptom checkers will be sent to local and national media in advance of the holiday break. In addition our current telephone messaging reminds patients about the use of repeat prescriptions and packing sufficient medication for holidays. It would help us if any public facing communications you put out in advance of Easter include information about the web services available at www.nhs.uk/nhsdirect as well as the 0845 4647 number.
• Contingency for non-urgent enquiries: if the service comes under pressure we will focus our resources on the most clinically urgent enquiries. This means that callers assessed as having ‘non-urgent’ needs would receive interim care advice from a health advisor and be advised to phone back if their symptoms persist or change. Those that call back would be re-assessed, and upgraded to a higher priority level, ensuring that they speak with a nurse advisor.

If you would like more information please contact your NHS Direct Regional Director