From the 15th May the way to access out-of-hours GP service in South Reading CCG area will be to phone 111 - the new NHS non-emergency number. This is a nationally designed service which will cover all non-emergency calls. 999 continues for emergency calls. The new 111 number is intended to take over completely from NHS Direct in South Reading by mid-June. Other parts of Berkshire West are on the same timetable. 
The new 111 service is being delivered in South Reading by the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust who run the ambulances. The 111 service has had severe teething problems in some areas, but South Central Ambulance Trust have been running it successfully in Hampshire for many months, and our local service is being introduced cautiously and in a phased approach. Initially 111 will be just to replace phoning your GP surgery for out-of-hours service. By mid-June 111 should have replaced NHS Direct as well. The new service is intended to bring together all non-emergency assistance outside your GP surgery. It will not be staffed exclusively by clinically trained staff - initially your call will be answered by staff who have been extensively trained for the particular job of answering 111 calls. One reason for the changeover from NHS Direct will have been to save expenditure, but other reasons are to simplify access and unite the non-emergency services and provide a uniform, national service. Reading Post has recently reported that the much-delayed replacement service for NHS Direct and out-of-hours, the new non-emergency 111 service, will be phased in across Berkshire between mid-May and the end of June.Initially the service will just replace existing out-of-hours access, first in Berkshire East, then in Berkshire West.