Letter: NHS changes
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Your letters on the expansion of the nurse-led telephone consultation line, NHS Direct (30 April), raise important issues. NHS Direct should be seen as a complementary service to traditional general practice, not a replacement or threat to the continuity of the relationship between GP and patient.
As nurses we recognise that a fundamental principle of good primary care is accessibility. There's nothing wrong with a populist approach if the result is a system which provides the right care, at the right time and in the right place.
Research by the University of Southampton shows nurse telephone consultation is both safe and effective - moreover, patients like it.
By the end of next year, NHS Direct will be available nationally. For many, nurses will become a gateway to the health service, giving 24-hour healthcare advice or directing patients to their GP or accident and emergency department.
Nurses welcome this development in primary care which underlines, once again, the necessity of a highly-skilled and motivated nursing workforce, which is valued and properly rewarded.
CHRISTINE HANCOCK
General Secretary
Royal College of Nursing
London W1
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