Carol Cowan and Gail Lumsden have been part of NHS 24’s Engagement Team for many years. Part of their role is to support Community Link Workers to help tackle health inequalities and promote improved awareness of NHS 24 services and care navigation.
Here they explain more about NHS 24 and how it’s services can help you access the care and advice you need quickly and safely.
If you have needed out-of-hours health advice for yourself or your service users, chances are you will have crossed paths at some point with NHS 24. Whether you have required help to access urgent care, mental health support, or advice on how safely managing common illnesses at home, one of NHS 24’s services will have been on hand to direct you to the right area for your care. But who exactly is NHS 24 and what services do we manage? Read on and I’ll explain more.
NHS 24 was established in 2002 and our purpose is to help patients access urgent unscheduled care. As a national health board, our services are available to everyone in Scotland, and as the years have progressed, the service delivery has expanded to provide a range of telephone and digital solutions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As Scotland’s provider of digital health and care, we manage a wide suite of services which support both physical and mental health. We are perhaps most well-known for our 111 service, the purpose of which is to provide urgent care triage for anyone who thinks they need A&E, but it is not life or limb threatening (remember in an emergency situation always dial 999). The 111 service also provides round the clock access to mental health support through our Mental Health Hub, and advice when primary care providers such as GPs, pharmacies or dental practices are closed.
NHS 24’s other services include:
- Scotland’s online health information service – scot. This site has quality assured health and care information including – symptom checkers for common illnesses and ailments, Scotland’s Service Directory that contains details of health and wellbeing services in your community, and mental health advice and resources.
- Breathing Space – a free and confidential phone and web chat service for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16 experiencing low mood, depression, or anxiety.
- Care Information Scotland (CIS) – a phone, webchat and website service providing information about care services for people living in Scotland.
- Quit Your Way Scotland – an advice and support service for anyone trying to stop smoking in Scotland.
- Living Life – a phone service that offers support to people in Scotland who are experiencing low mood, mild to moderate depression or symptoms of anxiety through cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
- The NHS 24 Online app – free to download on both iOS and Android advices, the app provides health and care advice through the ‘chat with us’ chat bot, ‘find a service’ function, and health themed push notifications.
Ensuring our services are accessible for all
Committed to helping communities and groups who might find it difficult to access health information in their chosen format, we recognise the importance of enabling everyone to access our services. As part of the NHS 24 Engagement Team, we regularly participate in events and outreach work to promote the alternative communications tools that our services use.
For 111, we use specialist third-party services to enable us to connect with patients who may need communication support. These include Language Line which is a free interpretation service for anyone who doesn’t use English as a first or preferred language, Contact Scotland BSL the free BSL interpreting video relay service, and also Relay UK which provides interpretation support for anyone with speech or language difficulties.
Similarly, NHS inform also has tools to make content more accessible for users. This includes health information in different translations and formats, such as – various languages, BSL videos and resources, audio, Easy Read, and large print.
Opportunities to connect
Social media is a great way to find out more about us and the services we provide. We regularly post health advice, recruitment information, and share information on health campaigns and topics that are relevant at that time. Pop over to our Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube channels and follow us to remain in the loop.
For more in-depth news, our stakeholder newsletter Talk 24 is published quarterly and contains articles on ongoing NHS 24 projects, events, and campaigns. If you wish to be added to our distribution list – contact the Talk 24 editorial team.
There are also opportunities to volunteer at NHS 24 by being part of our Public Partnership Forum or Youth Forum. Our volunteers are highly valued as voices for their communities and they help us to improve our services for everyone. You can find out more about our volunteering programme by visiting the NHS 24 website.
Get involved now
We’re currently in the early stages of a full review of NHS inform to understand how and why people use it (or not) and what they think could be improved.
Visit us at our exhibition stand at the VHS Scottish Community Link Worker Network Annual Conference on 29th May. We would love to hear your views.
Gail Lumsden and Carol Cowan work in the Engagement Team for NHS 24
