Category Archives: health
NHS Direct to receive additional funding to extend 0845 service as NHS plans for winter pressures
£15m has been allocated to support NHS 111 through the winter period
NHS England will fund an extension of NHS Direct’s 0845 number – despite the service being decomissioned from February – under NHS England’s plans to reduce the winter pressures on the health service.
Investing In Kids' Health 'Could Save Billions'
Tackling poverty, obesity and poor mental health could improve the life chances of Britain’s children, according to a report.
Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, chair of NHS England, tells Sky News more needs to be done to improve children’s health in the UK.
By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent
Investing in children’s health could save the NHS billions of pounds in the future, according to the Chief Medical Officer.
Professor Dame Sally Davies said poverty, obesity and poor mental health are damaging children’s long-term prospects.
But if the Government, health and social services and schools do more to help, the life chances of Britain’s children could be changed for the better, she said.
NHS Direct to close down next year
24 October 2013 Last updated at 12:24
NHS Direct to close down next year

NHS Direct – one of the most recognisable names in the NHS – will be closed down in England next year.
The organisation, which is an NHS trust, got into financial difficulty after winning a number of the contracts for the 111 phone line.
It had already said it was pulling out of those – and this latest decision means its other services will closed or transferred to other NHS bodies.
The NHS Direct service began 15 years ago.
It ran the national telephone advice line from the late 1990s until April this year, when the 111 service was launched.
The 111 service was split into 46 different contracts and NHS Direct won 11 of them.