People who use the NHS 111 service will benefit from a wider range of healthcare professionals as part of an enhanced service in Kent, Medway and Sussex.
GPs, paramedics, nurses, mental health professionals, dental nurses and pharmacists are all part of the enhanced NHS111 clinical assessment service which started this month.
It means that people who call 111 – free from mobiles or landlines 24/7 - or access the service via www.111.nhs.uk will speak to call handlers and/or healthcare professionals who can assess symptoms over the phone, issue prescriptions and directly book people into onward care appointments if they need one.
As the lead provider, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is working in conjunction with not-for-profit social enterprise Integrated Care 24 (IC24) to deliver the enhanced service.
The launch of the clinical assessment service is the first of several enhancements via the NHS 111 service for patients across Kent, Medway and Sussex.
Over the coming months, NHS 111 will integrate more closely with SECAmb’s 999 service and existing out-of-hours care, including providing access to evening and weekend GP appointments, home visiting services, minor injury units, urgent treatment centres and A&E departments.
This is another step to getting better healthcare for people in Kent.
