NHS 111

As NHS England’s resilience partner, we were the first and only provider to have onboarded the new Single Virtual Contact Centre model, meaning we have the infrastructure to mobilise contracts for additional geographies at the click of a button. The service is staffed by a team of trained and regularly audited health advisers, supported by experienced nurses and paramedic clinical advisers. As well as the telephone service, we also provide clinical support for the NHS 111 online service and Clinical Assessment Service.

Through the NHS 111 service our health advisers provide immediate health advice and support over the phone based on the patient’s symptoms and, if necessary, can arrange support for those who need to attend an urgent treatment centre with a booked arrival time to help improve their experience and reduce pressure on the hospital. This pre-booking system also applies to home visits and out-of-hours doctors.

Where possible, the NHS 111 team will book the patient an appointment or transfer them directly to the service most appropriate to them. If our NHS 111 adviser thinks the patient needs an emergency ambulance, they will immediately arrange for one to be despatched.

As well as the telephone service, we also provide clinical support for the NHS 111 online service and Clinical Assessment Service (CAS). Totally’s CAS provision maximises the proportion of NHS 111 cases which are closed remotely by health advisers without recourse to the Emergency Department (ED); this contributes to shorter waiting times at hospitals and provides patients with a quicker outcome than they would otherwise receive by attending an ED.

Expert clinical assessment, whether done over the phone, video call or in person, also enables greater opportunity for proactive chronic disease management and targeted support.

By utilising both the NHS 111 and CAS infrastructure we stream thousands of patients each week who would otherwise be reliant on already overstretched primary care services.