NHS 111 phone line records busiest ever week over Christmas period

NHS 111 recorded its busiest ever week over the Christmas and New Year period.

The non-emergency phone line peaked at 457,084 calls in the week ending Sunday 1 January 2017. This was the busiest week on record since the service began in August 2010.

The number of calls was up six per cent on the same period in 2016.

In figures released on Friday, the NHS said 80% of calls had been answered within 60 seconds.

Hospital admissions peaked on 27 and 28 December over the festive period with 60,000 people admitted to A&E on the Boxing Day bank holiday.

Despite the rise in A&E patients and an increase in people suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and norovirus, bed occupancy levels were slightly lower than the previous year, the figures revealed.

There were a total of 372,000 attendances, including 92,000 emergency admissions, to A&E during the Christmas and New year week, 40,000 more than the previous week (332,000).

“Plans remain in place to deal with additional demands during the winter period, and the public can still play their part using local pharmacy and NHS 111 for medical advice, alongside other services," a spokesperson for the NHS said.