The public is being urged to use NHS 111 instead of going to A&E over the festive period unless it’s a serious injury or a life-threatening emergency.
After it was estimated that a significant number of A&E attendances are either “avoidable” or “could be better treated elsewhere”, the NHS’s top A&E doctor is now calling on the British public to make full use of 111 services this winter, instead of heading straight to their nearest emergency department if it’s not necessary.
Ahead of Christmas, which is always one of the busiest times of the year for for NHS, Professor Julian Redhead is asking people to only to use 999 or A&E services for life threatening emergencies and serious injuries.
If this isn’t the case, they should otherwise “get to the help they need by calling or using 111 online” or via the NHS App.
It is estimated that up to two-fifths of A&E attendances are avoidable or could be better treated elsewhere.
NHS 111 is an easy and convenient way for people to get urgent help for a wide range of health problems. Call, go online or use the NHS App.
Following a record few months of A&E and ambulance demand, the pressure is now said to have risen across other parts of the NHS – with the health service believed to be going into winter busier than ever before.
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“We know that up to two-fifths of A&E attendances could be better treated elsewhere, as well as one in six calls to 999 just needing advice over the phone,” Professor Redhead explained. “So I really want to encourage everyone to use our free, around the clock 111 service that can give millions of people this winter fast, safe and easy access to the advice or treatment they need.”
NHS 111 is described as being an “easy and convenient” way for people to get urgent help for a wide range of health problems from the comfort of their own home.
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NHS urges the public not to go to A&E over Christmas except for in ‘life-threatening emergencies’ / Credit: NHS Digital
The service – which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week – can assess and direct people to the most appropriate local service, including urgent treatment centres, GP practices, and consultations with a pharmacist.
If needed, the service can arrange a call back from a nurse, doctor, or paramedic, or provide self-treatment advice over the phone.
NHS strikes deal with private sector to cut waiting lists across the UK
Emily Sergeant
A new deal has been struck between the NHS and the private sector to help tackle waiting lists across the UK.
As part of a “radical” new plan set to be launched by the NHS and Government next week to end the hospital waiting list backlog and to give patients nationwide “greater choice”, hundreds of thousands of people will soon be able to get directly referred and booked in for tests, checks, and scans by their GP for a range of conditions.
The new deal – which is called the ‘NHS and Independent Sector Partnership Agreement’ – will mean the NHS gets to make better use of the private sector to tackle waiting lists, as well as provide millions more appointments itself.
As the independent healthcare sector estimates it has capacity to provide an additional one million appointments for NHS patients per year, the new deal will help expand capacity and widen patient choice by setting out how more treatments can be delivered through the private sector, but with care still remaining free at the point of use.
🎯 Our Elective Reform Plan will cut waiting times from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks, helping patients get faster diagnosis and treatment.
This is part of our Plan for Change to rebuild the health system.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 6, 2025
Under the upgraded services, millions of people will receive quicker diagnosis and treatment to deliver routine within 18 weeks.
Thousands more will receive a diagnosis and treatment date within a single day.
The agreement will also give patients in more deprived areas of the UK, where NHS provision is typically more limited, a greater choice in where they are treated, as currently less than a quarter of patients can remember being offered a choice of hospital for their treatment.
The Government says it wants all NHS patients to “have the opportunity to choose who cares for them”.
This agreement has been published alongside the Government and NHS’s Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a roadmap to meeting the 18-week standard.
Millions of people are set to receive faster diagnoses and treatment thanks to a major new NHS plan.
This ambitious blueprint will give patients more control of their own care.
The plan for patients will also ensure that people are as “fit and prepared as possible” for treatment while they wait for an operation, which the the Government and NHS claims will not only boost post-op outcomes and speed up recovery, but also reduce the number of on-the-day cancellations too.
Commenting on the deal, Secretary of State Wes Streeting said: “As patients, we’ve all experienced the hoops you have to jump through to get the test or scan you and your GP know you need. It’s a waste of patients’ time, delays diagnoses when every minute matters, and means consultants are forced to tick boxes rather than treat patients.
“The reforms we’re announcing will speed up diagnoses and free up NHS staff to treat more patients [and] our plan for change will cut waiting lists from a maximum of 18 months to 18 weeks.”
Fundraiser set up after six-month-old baby girl tragically dies after multi-storey car park crash
Daisy Jackson
A six-month-old baby girl has tragically passed away following a collision in a multi-storey car park.
Sophia Kelemen, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, was airlifted to hospital with a broken pelvis and a brain bleed, but sadly died of her injuries on 3 January.
In a GoFundMe set up by her family, they said that the pram little Sophia was in was hit by a car in a Tenby supermarket car park.
A 33-year-old-man from Wigan has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a license and without insurance.
Flaviu Naghi was also arrested on suspicion of drink driving and drug driving and has been released on bail for these offences.
He will appear before Swansea Crown Court on 7 February.
In the GoFundMe, Sophia’s aunt Adriana wrote: “A seemingly ordinary day turned into our family’s worst nightmare.
Six-month-old baby girl tragically dies after multi-storey car park crash. Credit: Dyfed-Powys Police
“The baby was airlifted to the hospital with a broken pelvis and a brain bleed and was ultimately diagnosed with brain damage due to the impact. Despite the efforts of the doctors, Sophia could not cope with the impact, the surgery, anaesthesia, the brain bleed and all the injuries were too much for her fragile heart, which eventually gave out.”
It’s now hoped that the family can raise £2,000 to repatriate Sophia to Romania, where her father is from, for burial.
In a statement, Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Sadly, we can confirm that a 6-month-old baby girl has died following a collision on the ground floor of the multi-storey car park in Tenby on January 2.
“Sophia Kelemen, from the Leigh, Manchester area, was taken to hospital but died of her injuries on January 3. Our thoughts remain with her family at this difficult time. They are being supported by specially trained officers.
“This is a tragic incident and is a live investigation. We ask that you do not speculate the circumstances.”
Emily Sergeant -
28th November 2024 
