NHS Direct

How stakeholders rate NHS Direct

In February 2011, NHS Direct commissioned Jigsaw Research to carry out the third annual research study into regional stakeholders’ opinions of the Trust and its services.

Telephone interviews were conducted with senior representatives from over 200 organisations including strategic health authorities, primary care trusts, mental health trusts and ambulance trusts. For the first time, GP commissioning consortia, local authorities and community service providers formed part of the research sample.

The improvement in our overall rating achieved in 2010 was largely maintained in 2011 with 64% of stakeholders rating us as good or better (66% in 2010). 53% of respondents rated our 0845 4647 telephone service as good or better in 2011 and whilst this was slightly down on last year (56% in 2010), 61% rated our online services as good or better in 2011, an increase of 5% on 2010 figures.

The research showed that 75% of stakeholders are now encouraging the public to use NHS Direct; our engagement locally has improved from 51% to 63%, and collaborative working on projects and services has increased by 7% to 54%.

79% of stakeholders agreed that NHS Direct has an important role in health scares and 83% agreed that we provide good quality information to the public.

Stakeholders stated strong support for our future direction of travel, with services for patients with long-term conditions cited as being a key priority for NHS Direct.