ONE in four calls to NHS 24 made in the last five months have gone unanswered, data from a freedom of information (FOI) request has shown.
The FOI request from Scottish Labour shows that of the 785,456 calls made to the service in the last five months, 180,940 (23%) were abandoned.
The rate of unanswered calls on a monthly basis reached more than a quarter in March 2022 (27.5%) and June 2022 (27%).
The data also shows the average waiting time when contacting the service was just over 22 minutes in June – an increase of nearly five minutes compared to January’s 17-and-a-half minutes.
That is despite the launch of a new NHS 24 call centre in Dundee, which was announced in January as a move to “help facilitate the increase in demand for the NHS 24 service”.
The out-of-hours advice and triage service operates the 111 non-emergency number.
Janice Houston, director of service delivery at NHS 24, said: “As with the rest of the NHS in Scotland, NHS 24 is experiencing very high call volumes to the 111 service.
“Since the start of the pandemic NHS 24 has rapidly expanded the numbers of staff within our services to support our callers, as well as opening two new centres.
“Continued high demand for the 111 service means that, at times, people have experienced a longer wait time for their calls to be answered.
“Our automated telephone messaging system gives callers options of alternative routes to care, will advise how long the current wait is, and an option to call later if not urgent. This clear signposting means people may choose to end their call to 111.
“For example, in the case of an emergency, callers will always be advised to dial 999. We also advise people that they may be able to get help from their local community pharmacy, or via our symptom checkers on NHSinform.scot.
“As with all NHS boards, we have a number of staff off sick with Covid. However, our colleagues continue to work tirelessly, with a commitment to deliver safe and effective services 24/7, and answer every call as quickly as possible.”
