Hundreds
fear jobs
axe at NHS
helpline

Unison said it was “truly shocked” at the announcement, which it believed would lead to hundreds of staff being made redundant.

The union said 24 out of 30 sites in England would close at the service, which employs 1,500 frontline nursing and other professional staff.

NHS Direct denied that any decisions had been taken to close centres.

It said centres in Carlisle, Dudley, Exeter, Milton Keynes and Middlebrook, Bolton, would be used to provide the new NHS 111 service, for cases where a patient needs medical help, but it is not a 999 emergency. One of three sites in Greater London will also be used.

But the future of the remaining sites are uncertain: Wakefield, Hull, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derby, Mansfield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Stockton, Blackburn, Kendal, Liverpool, Nantwich, Stafford, Bedford, Chatham, Chelmsford, Southampton, Ipswich, Norwich, Bristol, Ferndown in Dorset, and Truro.

Nick Chapman, NHS Direct chief executive, said: “Unison’s fears that 50 per cent of frontline staff will lose their jobs are also unfounded. The Department of Health has agreed that NHS Direct’s frontline staff will be offered the opportunity to move into a job providing the new 111 service with other providers – ambulance trusts and GP out-of-hours organisations – where NHS Direct is not the chosen provider of the 111 service in an area.

“The future of other NHS Direct sites has not been decided. We are in discussion with the Department of Health and the NHS Commissioning Board about the future of other non-111 services that we could be asked to deliver before making decisions.”

Unison said a firm announcement should be made about the future of the service to allay its job warnings.