Will the Minister provide an update on the performance of the 111 phone line for inquiries regarding COVID-19 in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area?
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, there have been a total of 5,955 COVID-19 inquiries to the 111 line from people living in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area.
In terms of trend, call volumes were high during March and April before dipping during May, July and August, The call volumes to the 111 line in Betsi Cadwaladr UHB increased again from 13 September 2020. However, the demand has not reached the levels we have seen during March and April.
Please note this data comes from management information and has not been through any scrutiny processes.
The 111 service in general has faced the same challenges as the rest of the UK over recent weeks with a significant increase in COVID-19 queries / demand. The 111 service is recruiting approximately 50 WTE call handlers to improve resilience. Training of the first cohort of these call handlers started the week beginning 19 October.