02.01.14
Re-running NHS 111 contract tenders could cost £5.5m
Re-procuring contracts for NHS 111 could cost the health service an extra £5.5m, new research suggests. NHS Direct won 11 of the 46 contracts, but in July it announced it would be pulling out because the contract terms were “financially unsustainable”.
The organisation will now cease operations in March 2014 and the award of new contracts for NHS 111 has been delayed until 2015.
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.”
In the West Midlands, one of the regions covered by NHS Direct, the cost of re-tendering contracts for a new operator is estimated at £500,000. Across the country, the total cost could be as much as £5.5m, an investigation by the British Medical Journal suggests.
Dame Barbara added: “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.”
But 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.”
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Image c. Peter Macdiarmid/PA Wire