THE new 24-hour nurse-led helpline set to revolutionise local health care has been criticised as inefficient and costly by an independent study.

The study claims that the NHS Direct service is failing in its aim to reduce patient demand in GP surgeries and accident and emergency departments.

Following the three pilot schemes set up last year, Health Secretary Frank Dobson opened NHS Direct in Bolton last week to cater for the health problems of more than two million people in the Greater Manchester area.

Currently, 40 per cent of Britain's population has access to the new service and the Government hopes that by the end of the year 2000 the whole country will be covered.

The three pilot schemes received an average of 25,000 calls last year - well below the Government target of 75,000 calls per year and the 750,000 calls made nationwide to GP out-of-hours services during the Christmas and New Year period. In the last 12 months, the borough's GP out-of-hours service, BARDOC, based at Parsons Lane, Bury, received 17,082 advice calls at an average cost of £5.25 per call.

It is estimated that a phone call to NHS Direct costs them an average of £20. The Government is expected to invest £50 million in the scheme by the end of the year.

The findings of the latest independent study contradict the Government's own research which hails the new service a success.

Dr Derek Fletcher, local GP and chairman of BARDOC, said: "It is hard to comment on the new service as we have not really been exposed to it in Bury.

"BARDOC has had very little to do with NHS Direct but we are hoping to work with them and have a more integrated service in the future."

Dr Fletcher said NHS Direct was a parallel service rather than a joint initiative and said it had both advantages and disadvantages.

"There are certainly advantages with a system like this but there are also dangers as patients could rely too heavily on such a service rather than visit their GP and be confused about the different services."

He added: "However, it is still early days and our policy at the moment is to wait and see what happens."

The new NHS Direct helpline telephone number is: 0845 4647.

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