Dear Colleague

You may have heard that the government has committed to abolish NHS Direct.

The service is to be replaced within 3 years by a national phone service (using the non emergency 1-1-1 number) based on the pilot project in the North East.

Two-fifths of NHS Direct staff are trained nurses but the 111 line will be staffed by "call advisers" who have only had to take a 60-hour course.

In response, a "Save NHS Direct" campaign petition has been set up..
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-nhs-direct.html

This service is a life saver as comments on the twitter page show - I would be grateful if you would circulate this information as widely as possible.

All best wishes
Megan Dobney
SERTUC Regional Secretary
020 7467 1220
SERTUC is the TUC in London, the South East and East of England