By Sally Watson, 14 April 1999 13:48
NEWS The UK's 24-hour healthcare telephone hotline, NHS Direct, is set to expand and move online. Speaking at the Primary Care Conference in Birmingham yesterday, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans for NHS Direct Online - a Web site providing a public gateway to health information on the Internet. He said the Web site would go live in August this year providing an interactive self care guide, accredited information about hundreds of diseases and access to self care groups. Blair claimed the pilot scheme for the telephone service had been a huge success, with 97 per cent of users expressing approval for the service. NHS Direct currently covers 19 million people in England - 40 per cent of the country. The government plans to extend its reach to another 10 million by December 1999 and the whole country by the end of 2000. Blair also announced plans for NHS Direct kiosks in surgeries, libraries, chemists, post offices and hospitals nationwide. The first 200 information points will be put in place over the next 12 months. NHS Direct is designed to make access to health information quicker and easier and ease the burden on GPs and hospitals.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below