I have asked the chief executive of NHS Direct to write to the hon. Member for Chorley to explain the reasons for the delay in replying to his letter dated 16 May 2006 and understand a reply has been sent. I know that the chief executive of NHS Direct has also offered to meet the hon. Member and he may wish to consider whether he accepts that offer.
[holding answer 30 March 2006]: The available information requested is shown in the table.
Calls offered Calls answered Calls abandoned after 30 seconds Percentage of calls abandoned after 30 seconds Proportion of calls redirected as a percentage of calls answered January 2003 to March 2003 2,075,764 1,633,282 158,564 9 49 April 2003 to March 2004 8,176,571 6,404,478 759,858 11 49 April 2004 to March 2005 8,807,994 6,585,578 1,100,151 14 52 April 2005 to March 2006 7,919,118 6,811,751 743,733 10 52 Notes: 1. Clinical sorting data was not collected at a national level prior to January 2003. 2. Data are shown for the periods January 2003 to March 2003 and for financial years April 2003 to March 2006. 3. Data includes combined calls = 0845, out-of-hours and other. 4. Definitions of data: Calls offered—number of calls offered/made, including wrong numbers and people hanging up within 30 seconds. Calls answered—number of calls answered/handled after the introductory message. Calls abandoned—number of calls abandoned after the introductory message. Source: NHS Direct