New 111 NHS phone service for patients to be launched in Gwent in April

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is next in line to introduce the 111 service, which is being phased in across Wales.

It aims to simplify the way in which patients can get the help and information they need to access the services that are right for them.

Currently in the health board area, the GP out-of-hours service and NHS Direct are contacted through different telephone numbers, but the new service will provide access through the single 111 number.

This is already being used in three health board areas - Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Hywel Dda and Powys.

Wales' 111 service aims to provide 24/7 improved access and signposting to services, clinical advice and treatment, ensuring patients get

to the right service quickly and straightforwardly.

In turn, it is designed to help stabilise, and where appropriate, reduce demand on GP out-of-hours and A&E departments.

Calls will be answered by call handlers who if necessary will connect the caller with a nurse who will carry out a telephone triage.

If there is an indication at any stage that the patient needs 999 intervention, they will be transferred immediately to that service.

Those patients who cannot be dealt with at call handler or triage stage will be passed to the relevant out-of-hours team.

This team will be supported during weekday evenings and for 12 hours a day at weekends and on bank holidays, traditionally times of higher out-of-hours demand, by members of a clinical hub.

This includes GPs, pharmacists and nurses with specialist interests, such as mental health, who will be able to take patients from the out-of-hours telephone queue, thus providing a broader, multi-disciplinary approach to the 111 service.

The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board's 111 service is being designed to cope with around 126,500 calls a year, and will include around 20 call handling staff and 11 nurses.