NHS Direct

NHS Direct is the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service (NHS) for residents and visitors in England, with advice offered 24 hours a day, every day of the year through telephone contact on the national 0845 46 47 number, web based symptom checkers at www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk and via mobile, both as apps for iPhone and Android smart phones and a mobile website. As a part of the National Health Service, NHS Direct services are free, although the 0845 number is charged at a national rate from a BT landline. The website remains free, including call backs.

Users of the service, through whichever channel, are asked questions about their symptoms or problem. Common problems are often given simple self care advice, which they can follow thereby avoiding an expensive visit to a health care professional. More complex problems are assessed by a nurse and can then be given treatment advice or referred on to another service within the NHS.

As well as these core services, NHS Direct provides a number of commissioned services throughout the NHS, such as specialised support for patients with long term conditions, access to GP and dental healthcare out of hours, and a professional response system for times of public health anxiety.

NHS Direct only provides its service for residents and visitors in England, and there are corresponding public services covering Scotland (NHS 24) and Wales (NHS Direct Wales). Northern Ireland does not have such a service.

In August 2010, the BBC reported that David Cameron's coalition government was planning to scrap the NHS Direct 0845 46 47 helpline telephone service in favour of the cheaper NHS 111 number. This intention was set out in the white paper, but was portrayed in the media as a ‘leak’ by the Conservative Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.