Call during freeze, public urged
Wednesday January 6th, 2010
The British public was urged yesterday to use health service helplines to get advice on keeping warm as much of the northern hemisphere settled into its coldest winter for decades.
The department of health also urged people to keep an eye on vulnerable neighbours.
Ministers said the public could call the helpline service NHS Direct for advice if they were struggling to keep warm.
The plea came as new figures showed the public using the NHS Direct web-site equally with its telephone helplines.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, regional director of public health for the south east coast, said: "Remembering the needs of friends, relatives and neighbours who could be at risk is essential.
"In particular, they need to keep their home at the right temperature - between 18 and 21 degrees centigrade or 64 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit - and if they can't heat all the rooms they use, they should heat the living room during the day and the bedroom just before they go to sleep."
The Monday after Christmas was the busiest day for the service, which fielded more than 800,000 inquiries over the Christmas fortnight.
Some 330,000 inquiries were from telephone calls while 520,000 used the service's web-site, including some 100,000 who used a new feature to get a preliminary assessment of their illness.
The service received some 30,700 calls on the Monday after Christmas.
The service said it was able to give 60 per cent of callers advice on how to treat symptoms at home.
NHS Direct chief executive Nick Chapman said: "The staff at NHS Direct have had a busy and successful time over Christmas and the New Year, helping record numbers of people both over the web and the telephone.
"They have been able to provide advice for many patients meaning they have not had to access face-to-face health services over this period, reducing demand on Accident and Emergency departments and GP Surgeries."
The NHS Direct number is 0845 4647
Tags: General Health | NHS | UK News
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