Delays to North Wales NHS 111 roll-out labelled ‘disgrace’ by Aberconwy MS

Delays to the roll-out of the non-emergency NHS telephone service in north Wales have been labelled as “a disgrace” by a Member of the Senedd.

Janet Finch-Saunders, who represents Aberconwy, was reacting to today’s news that the free-to-call 111 service will not be fully established in the region until 2022.

While 999 should always be used in emergency situations, the service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing health information, advice and access to urgent out-of-hours primary care.

It allows GPs, pharmacists and nurses and call-handlers to arrange appointments, prescriptions, advice and home visits.

But while the service can now be used across Wales for Coronavirus-related enquiries, the NHS Direct website states that the full service is only available in the Hywel Dda, Powys, Aneurin Bevan and Swansea Bay – including Bridgend – health board areas.

The MS said: “I have received a number of complaints from confused constituents who have been directed towards the NHS 111 service to find that the non-emergency medical advice service remains unavailable for the North Wales area.

“To now learn of a delay to the national roll out of this service is, frankly, not good enough.

“This is an incredible disappointment, especially as residents had been already been informed that the service would be rolled out for the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board area in 2021.

“That the alternative non-emergency advice number continues to charge residents of North Wales is also a disgrace.

“The Welsh Government’s continued mismanagement of BCUHB means that those isolated and elderly residents, without routine access to the computer, will continue to be charged to access an essential health helpline to get the advice they require.

“The NHS 111 helpline is a vital telephone service that many of my most vulnerable residents are desperate to utilise.

“I urge the Welsh Health Minister to look again at these plans to ensure that the original promised time frame can actually be delivered.”

The delays were revealed after Ynys Mon MS Rhun ap Iorwerth sought reassurance over the timetable for providing a full 111 service for the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board area.

The alternative 0845 46 47 number – the only option currently available for north Wales residents – costs a minimum of 2p per minute plus the “access charge” set by the caller’s service provider.

In a written response, health minister Vaughan Gething confirmed: “Plans are in place to implement a full 111 service in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area by Quarter 1, 2022.

“The 111 number is already available across Wales for enquiries relating to COVID-19, and has been available since March 2020.”