Telephone health pilot omits optical practices

Optical practices are not included in the services directory of a new healthcare telephone service trial where patients dial 111 rather than 999 to access non-emergency healthcare 24 hours a day.

The new service, launched in the North East of England by health secretary Andrew Lansley, is being trialled with a view to a national roll-out and guides patients to a locally available service or provides appropriate advice and information.

A spokesperson for the North-East Ambulance service, which implemented the scheme, explained: 'We do have a pathway within the clinical assessment system that we use to refer a patient to an optician within 24 or 48 hours depending on their need.' However, he said that the directory of NHS commissioned health services to which patients were referred or booked into after making calls does not contain optical practices. He added that this could change in the future.