Is It 116, 111, or Whatever?

Hot off the heels of the new 116 helpline numbers from the European Commission, comes a new non-emergency 111 health number which this time is the brainchild of the North East region of the UK.

We included the new 116 numbers in our blog entitled ‘Two New 116 Numbers’ and wondered if all these new numbers, no matter how well-intentioned, were going to start to confuse people.

The number 111 is of course an obvious choice and it’s perhaps surprising it hasn’t been used before, but now in this new age of telephone number liberation, it’s been mooted as an alternative to the classic 999.

The idea comes from the NHS County Durham and Darlington Primary Care Trusts. They intend to pilot the free 111 number which, if successful, will also be used by Lincolnshire, Luton and Nottingham.

Acting as a government service for those who don’t need emergency medical care, but nonetheless need to speak to someone, it is not planned as a replacement for NHS Direct, although may well do so in the future it if proves a success. It will deal with such issues as out-of-hours care, GP services, emergency dentists and pharmacies who open 24 hours.

Government Health Secretary Andrew Lansley was reported to have said:
“It is essential that we improve access to, and understanding about, urgent care services, which includes out-of-hours care. At present, too many people are confused about who to contact and how to do so. By putting in place one, easily memorable 111 number for all urgent enquiries to run alongside the emergency 999 number we will simplify NHS services for patients.”

But the new 111 number has not been welcomed by everyone. Some groups are worried that having a further number, and one focussing on non-emergency medical healthcare, is going to confuse people. They claim that it might actually put a question of doubt in some people’s minds as to whether their call is an emergency, or a non-emergency, wasting valuable time.

To be fair, the people behind the 111 number do stress that if the operator senses it’s an emergency, then they will route the call to the 999 service.

One of the main ideas behind the new number of course, is to relieve pressure on the 999 service which daily has to cope with thousands of bogus calls. Research has revealed that as much as 80% of calls to 999 are literally a waste of time.

An infamous example cropped up in 2007 when a slightly upset woman telephoned the Cambridgeshire Constabulary headquarters (which handles the county’s 999 calls). It went something like this:

Woman: “I'm in Huntingdon, looking for Homebase and I can't find it. Who can I call?"

Operator: “Homebase? This isn't a life or death situation, is it madam?”

Woman: “No – but I am very distressed. I have been driving around looking for it, and I can't find it. I am nearly in tears.”

Operator: “Well this isn't the kind of thing you should be calling 999 for.”

Woman: “I suppose so – sorry. Goodbye.”

So the moral of the tale is, if you can’t find Homebase, don’t call either 999, or the new 111.