Process in one of the 11 regions affected by NHS Direct's withdrawal from contracts will cost £500,000, BMJ finds
The bungled launch of the NHS 111 service is likely to cost the health service millions of pounds, according to an investigation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The service was thrown into turmoil last July after one of the main providers, NHS Direct, announced it planned to pull out of its contracts due to severe financial problems.
The cost of retendering the contracts is likely to be very high, the BMJ said. In just one region affected, the West Midlands, the reprocurement process will cost £500,000, it found.
The NHS 111 line, which replaced NHS Direct as the number to call for urgent but non-emergency care, has been riddled with teething problems since its inception on 1 April. Patients have complained of calls going unanswered, poor advice given and calls being diverted to the wrong part of the country.
A month after the launch, leading medics said the "problematic" roll-out of the system had left many patients not knowing where to turn. NHS England launched an investigation into the advice line after a number of incidents, including three deaths, were linked to the service.
NHS Direct originally won 11 of the 46 contracts across England to provide the 111 service. But in July it announced it would be unable to provide the service in North Essex, Cornwall, Somerset, Buckinghamshire, east London and the City, south-east London, Sutton and Merton, West Midlands, Lancashire and Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.
A spokeswoman for NHS Direct said the contracts, which covered more than a third of the population of England, were "financially unsustainable". In October the organisation announced that it was to close after projecting a £26m deficit for this financial year.
Dame Barbara Hakin, chief operating officer at NHS England, said: "NHS 111 is now a stable and improving service and we are confident it will continue to get better. I have been impressed by the way that the staff providing these services across the country have turned the situation around on behalf of the public.
"NHS 111 provides a good service with high levels of public satisfaction. Calls are answered promptly and more people are getting access to the service as we move to full coverage in February 2014. The recent urgent care review identified the important role that 111 can play. The concept of calling for advice first is essential for patient care outcomes and we are committed to ensuring 111 plays its full part in this."
Labour's shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: "It is now clear that ministers wasted millions on flawed contracts. Labour warned the government at the outset that 111 was fundamentally flawed but they pressed ahead with the rollout regardless.
"David Cameron is responsible for its shambolic introduction. The destruction of NHS Direct – a trusted, national service – is one of his worst acts of vandalism." Guardian
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