NHS 24 is it the single biggest drain on emergency ambulances and A&E departments when it was put in place to reduce the pressure on emergency services.
In my humble opinion YES it is!
Telephone diagnosis is never going to work when we live in a world of no win no fee solicitors.
Call takers, nurses and physicians are always going to cover their arse if there is a sliver of doubt.
It amazes me however how skillfully they can talk people into "chest pain" no matter what the original complaint they call in with was.
In the years since its introduction I have never gone to an NHS 24 call for chest pain that actually turned out to be of cardiac origin and I believe I have cracked the reason for this.
If you are having genuine cardiac chest pain the last thing you are going to do is call NHS 24. No way would you wait for ages for the call to be answered, go thru all the questions, and then wait for someone to call you back. No you would dial 999 immediately.
So there I have solved the problem for NHS 24 .....If someone goes through all the hassle involved with calling them then really it can't be an emergency !
My thoughts only and not representative of any NHS organisations.
Would love to hear your comments
FGC
