ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2016
Investigating the public's use of Scotland's primary care telephone advice service (NHS 24): a population-based cross-sectional study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Exploring two-step and one-step urgent care telephone triage: a UK-based semi-structured interview study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- An evaluation of service user experience, clinical outcomes and service use associated with urgent care services that utilise telephone-based digital triage: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2021Article
- Impact of a telephone triage service for non-critical emergencies in Switzerland: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2021Article
- Statistical complexity of reasons for encounter in high users of out of hours primary care: analysis of a national service.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Telephone announcements encouraging common cold self-management reduce demand for general practice appointments.BMJ innovations · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere has been no comprehensive examination of the public's understanding of, and attitudes towards, NHS 24.
aimTo investigate the public's use of NHS 24 and explore their understanding of, and beliefs about, the service. DESIGN AND
settingPopulation-based cross-sectional study of adults in Scotland.
methodQuantitative data were collected by self-completion postal questionnaire and qualitative data by follow-up telephone interviews.
resultsA corrected response rate of 34.1% (n = 1190) was obtained. More than half (51.0%, n = 601) of responders had used NHS 24. Callers were more likely to be female, have at least one child, and be aged 25-34 years. Most calls (92.4%, n = 549) were made out of hours, and 54.6% (n = 327) were made on behalf of someone else. The main reason for calling was to get advice about a new symptom (69.0%, n = 414). A total of 38.6% (n = 219) of users contacted another health professional following their call, mostly on NHS 24 advice (71.7%, n = 157). Over 80.0% (n = 449) of callers were satisfied with the service and 93.9% (n = 539) would use it again.Only 8.4% (n = 78) of responders had used the NHS 24 website and 4.6% (n = 53) the NHS inform service. The main reasons for non-use were not needing the service, a preference to see their own GP, and not knowing the telephone number. NHS 24 was mainly viewed as an out-of-hours alternative to the GP. It was not considered an appropriate service for minor symptoms. The main facilitator to use was convenience, whereas the main barrier to use was not knowing how and when to use the service.
conclusionAlthough most people who used NHS 24 were satisfied, others were unclear about how and when to use the service. Further education about the full range of services that NHS 24 offers should be considered.
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