NHS helpline recruits 200 more operators as longer waits revealed

NHS 24 is to recruit around 200 new staff before the end of March in a bid to cut waiting times for calls to be answered.

The announcement came after The Sunday Post told last week how waiting times had increased despite the opening of new call centres.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said statistics, obtained by The Post and detailing lengthening waits as a quarter of calls to 111 are abandoned, suggested the system was in crisis.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf opened a new call centre in Dundee in January last year for 140 staff, then, in May, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon opened another new centre in Hillington, near Glasgow, also aimed at increasing capacity.

Doctors urge clinical training for NHS24 operators as waiting times rise

However, the average wait for a call to be answered was over 20 minutes in October, up from 17 minutes 30 seconds in January when the first new call centre opened.

There were almost 100,000 calls to NHS 24 over the two four-day breaks of the festive period, the highest festive-period demand in over a decade, meaning waits were likely to have increased further last month.

Announcing a package of emergency measures to support the NHS last week, health minister Humza Yousaf said: “This winter, NHS 24 is taking forward the planned recruitment of around 200 new starts before the end of March.”

He added: “Although call wait times for NHS 24 were often longer than usual over the festive period, the vast majority of calls received were dealt with through the initial contact.”