NHS 111 - changing how we interact with healthcare
NHS 111 - changing how we interact with healthcare
The NHS 111 service was introduced to make it easier for the public to access the right healthcare services when medical help is needed but isn’t urgent. The service aims to provide health advice and direct patients to the right NHS services over the phone.
In January 2016, the 111 service received just over 1 million phone calls. By January 2024, this number had risen to 1.9 million.
During COVID-19, the number of calls to the service drastically increased to around 3 million in March 2020 – only 1.4 million of these calls were answered. NHS 111 turned to digital to help solve its problem, with the 111 service becoming integrated into the NHS App, which has around 30 million registered users.
The 111 service is vital in reducing the strain on NHS frontline services. In 2019, the NHS reported that the 111 service had saved over 12 million unnecessary A&E visits.
When we dissect the data on the outcomes of NHS 111 calls from January 2024, only 16% of the callers were advised to attend A&E; roughly 1,596,000 people were directed to other NHS services.
Whatever your experience with the NHS 111 service, it is a fantastic service.
A Service Under Strain
The NHS 111 service has around 4,645 call handlers in place. This workforce is split into three levels:
Clinical Advisors – These are workers with a medical degree, including nurses and doctors. If another agent cannot help, they will be referred to complex cases.
Health Advisors – These workers are here to help people with symptoms. This involves following a process that involves a full assessment and determining where to send a patient based on their symptoms.
Service Advisors – These agents are here to help people who do not have symptoms but need help finding a service for their needs. This could be as simple as how to get a repeat prescription or where they need to register.
This setup is very much like any customer service call centre. Service advisors can direct your call, a health advisor will walk you through your problem, and if necessary, the case is escalated to a clinical advisor.
If we look at the NHS 111 service from the lens of any other business service, today’s consumers demand flexibility in how they engage and expect to be able to reach services through different communications rather than only by phone. Salesforce research shows that 71% of consumers have used multiple channels to start and complete a single transaction.
Voice-based call centres are transforming into omnichannel communication centres, engaging with customers across various channels and integrating them into a single platform.
As customer culture and expectations change in the day-to-day world, you would expect behaviour to follow a similar pattern. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of minutes spent making phone calls in the UK decreased by 9.2% – the phone call is becoming less a part of our lives. But will that translate into a change in how we want to seek medical help? At 4 Roads, we certainly believe so.
Automating Health Chats
According to Gartner, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for 25% of organisations. AI integration has been implemented into NHS 111 through a product called Visiba. This platform allows for remote consultations between patients and healthcare professionals. The patient performs the heavy lifting of the initial history-taking stage, relieving the doctor of the burden and removing the need for a non-clinical health advisor.
This is built on a foundation of patient-guided decision trees. Generative and conversational AI is surfaced through a friendly chatbot and is combined with image analysis to deliver a fully formed assessment. This is then bundled up and shared with a clinician to review and call back.
The introduction of this technology is a huge step in the right direction to modernising our health service. This could unlock many potential doors. Patient notes can be summarised automatically with the help of LLMs, with a clinician approving the summary rather than having to take the time to write out a report in full.
The NHS is on the cusp of reimagining what healthcare looks like; we’re excited the approach has been to utilise chatbot technology to relieve the strain on human interactions. It is something every business and service provider should be doing.
Unlock Advanced Digital Solutions for Healthcare
Ready to enhance your healthcare services with AI-driven, digital-first solutions? Connect with 4 Roads to explore how we can help integrate seamless digital tools, improve patient interactions, and drive innovation across your organisation. Reach out today to transform your customer support and patient care experiences.