New online NHS 111 service to increase healthcare options for patients

The details of a new online NHS 111 service will be outlined by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in Manchester on Wednesday.
The service will enable patients in England to enter their symptoms online and receive tailored advice or a telephone call from a healthcare professional.
The move could be particularly beneficial for people with diabetes, as patients will also be able to book appointments, access medical records and order prescriptions online.
Diabetes patients often need to make several appointments during a calendar year, so this online service could be very useful. Moreover, being able to view latest results in one place, such as HbA1c, cholesterol and blood pressure, will provide patients with reference points to take ownership of their diabetes management.
Meanwhile, being able to enter symptoms online could help a number of patients towards being diagnosed with diabetes more quickly.
This service is part of a relaunch of the NHS website, which will serve as an expansion of the current NHS 111 non-emergency phone line service.
It is currently being developed with leading UK clinicians and will be piloted before online access is eventually granted to the public.
Patients will also be able to compare the efficacy of the local health services in areas of diabetes, dementia and learning disability.
Mr Hunt said the service “will make it easier for patients to get medical support and information they need, and should encourage more of us to use the growing range of online NHS services available”.
“This is a way of supplementing patients seeing their doctor in a more conventional, face-to-face setting, and crucially it will give people more choice and the opportunity to access healthcare in a way that works for them.”