Emergency 911.

One of the great ideas to improve healthcare of recent times is that politicians think that if you have a “problem” then in order to solve it you must dumb down and create a call centre. One only needs to think of the success of NHS (re)Direct which continues to send GPs unadulterated crap as emergency must see GP immediately who are usually sent away with no treatment whatsoever and who are also told that NHS (re)Direct always tell patients this.

This is usually after the patient apologizes for wasting our time after being told it will get better on its own. There are possibly moves a foot to abolish this expensive redirection non healthcare service and replace it with a new dumber and call centre based service called 111. We still can’t think why 111 was chosen despite watching American medical dramas to keep us in touch with First World medicine.

One of the coalition’s NHS War of Liberation ideas was to replace efficiency savings with efficiency gains and we are sure in the Kremlin Marshals NC/DC will be having a vodka, sorry comrades a Pimms or two it is after all the British summer, over some news we spotted in this medical magazine.

Their new “service” has beaten all previous production targets of turfing a third of all calls to NHS Direct to see either a GP or to A&E and managed to redirect 42 per cent of calls to GPs (it does not say how “urgently” these turfs would be) and beat this comrades 5% will land up in A&E.

Praise be to the Party for great healthcare ideas that could be reproduced more cheaply by tossing a coin. Something to put in ones home first aid kit on top of the old NHS (re)Direct number to remind you of its replacement's improved efficiency and save you having to make a call.