The New 111 Service

Dear Manager,

We are delighted to say that this feedback is now being taken forward by the new 111 service. This means Care Homes will have direct access to clinicians.

To develop this, 111 are holding a forum on the 16th October 10am – 12pm in Welwyn Garden City.

The forum will be to discuss:

  • The current concerns Care Homes have with calling 111
  • Main reasons why calls are made
  • What support Care Homes require from 111

We have limited spaces for this forum and would like a variety of homes to attend.

If you would like to attend please email complexcare@hcpa.info with your expression of interest. We will then email to let you know if you have had a place.

Additionally, if you have not yet submitted your outgoing telephone numbers please do so by clicking here.

If you would like a reminder about our earlier email regarding the 111 service, please read below.

Original email sent 30th June 2017

Below is the outline of the service.

HCPA have been in discussion with our members for the last few years regarding the challenges arising from 111, especially in out of hours’ situations. Feedback we have received has resulted in ambulances being called out unnecessarily when a Care Practitioner has rung 111, they have then been sent an ambulance and then other partners have penalised the home for an unnecessary ambulance call out. We have been feeding this information back to 111 for the past 6 months and have been advocating for you to have a tailored and more helpful service.

What you need to do to start accessing this service…

  1. Care homes are required to submit all numbers they will be using to contact NHS111 (including outgoing landline and mobiles from the property). Please click here to complete.
  2. We will then share the information with 111, who will update their systems
  3. Next time you need to call 111, the care home telephone numbers will be flagged up as coming from a care home– Remember to make sure you are with the resident when calling
  4. The person handling the call will record basic information and, depending on the reason for calling, the call will be automatically directed to a clinician within the IUC, service, if appropriate.
  5. The clinician will be able to view the resident’s ‘Summary Care Record’ and also any ‘Special Patient Notes’ that the resident’s usual GP has completed. A clinical decision will be made and either advice will be given or the ambulance will be called. It is hoped that this will help to reduce the number of calls directed to the ambulance trust and at the same time improve Out of Hours support for care home residents.

It’s imperative all providers fill out the number form (point 1 above)- without these numbers, care homes cannot be identified by people handling the calls and so they will not be able to benefit from the new service. 

This is a new service and will take some time to settle in and adjust into the wider system.  During this period do please let us know any feedback of issues you incur so we can feed this back to 111 so that the service can meet your needs. Email complexcare@hcpa.info

Many Thanks,

HCPA Integration Team