RCN Yorkshire and the Humber disappointed by 111 decision

Published: 17 July 2012

NHS Yorkshire and the Humber has announced that the new contract for the Yorkshire and Humber 111 service will not be awarded to NHS Direct. Instead the contract will be delivered by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in partnership with Local Care Direct (LCD) meaning that existing staff now face uncertainty over their future.

This will impact on Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members based at Wakefield, Sheffield and Hull.  Regional Director for the RCN in Yorkshire and the Humber, Kevin Austerberry, said: “We are bitterly disappointed that NHS Direct has lost the new contract for providing 111 services.  They have an an excellent record of service. Our hope now is that the vast range of skills and experience held by staff currently employed by NHS Direct will not be lost. The RCN has expressed deep reservations around some aspects of the new service; not least the fact that around a third of callers will not have the opportunity to speak to clinically qualified staff.

“The RCN will now be working closely with members in Wakefield, Sheffield and Hull to ensure that those who transfer to the new employers will be guaranteed the best possible terms and conditions and that any nurses who face redundancy are supported through this worrying process.”

At RCN Congress in May, an emergency resolution was passed asking RCN Council to call on the Department of Health to urgently reconsider the replacement of NHS Direct with NHS 111.