The NHS England board meeting on 3 May 2013 endorsed proposals for an external review of the model used to roll out the NHS 111 service.
The 111 service replaces both NHS Direct and the separate specific telephone numbers needed to call out-of-hours GP services. Official advice is that "you should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help but it's not a life-threatening situation." This, of course, begs the question of the caller's ability to decide reliably when an urgent situation is life threatening. The decision to review follows reports of at least 22 serious untoward incidents (SUIs), including 2 deaths, since the soft launch of 111. The press release from NHS England following their board meeting did not mention these SUIs nor the deaths, but sought to reassure patients that "a good 111 service is now operating in most of the country." The Berkshire version of NHS 111 is due to go live later in May. It will be run by the South Central Ambulance Service.