RESEARCH ABOUT CALLING NHS 111 OR 999 FOR ILLNESSES IN SOUTH TEESSIDE

Have you contacted the NHS on 111 or 999?

Do you live in the South Teesside CCG* area and are you aged 16 years or over? Did you use the NHS 111 or 999 service between January 1 – June 30 2019?  If yes, we would like to use some information about the care you received. 

When someone calls NHS 111 or 999, they are asked some questions to make sure people get the right help, at the right time, in the right place. This is called triage.  We know that some illnesses which can be serious, like sepsis, can be difficult to identify on the phone. So, new questions have been added to help NHS 111 & 999 staff recognise more easily those people who may be or may become seriously ill. 

It is important that we find out if the triage is working as intended and to make sure that those with possible serious illnesses are identified. Research is taking place in the South Teesside area, conducted by an experienced paramedic, to follow through what happens to patients who contact 111 or 999, and may also use ambulance services or go to hospital.

To do this research we need to join your health records from the North East Ambulance Service, including 111 and 999 calls, and the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. These are not joined at the moment. We need to use names, postcodes, dates of birth, NHS numbers and some health information so we can follow what has happened on the patient’s journey.  Under Data Protection laws this information is regarded as a special category of information.  Once the records have been connected, any information that could identify patients will be removed by the NHS.  Researchers will not see any information that could identify individuals but will be able to make sure the new triage is working as intended.

If you think this affects you and you want to know more about the research please contact: Steve Hatton (Paramedic Postgraduate Researcher), The University of Sheffield – Telephone 0113 254 2485, or e-mail: sjhatton1@sheffield.ac.uk  

If you do not want your records to be used for this project, please contact: Michelle Jackson, Research Manager, North East Ambulance Service – by 12th August 2019 – Telephone 0191 430 2294 or e-mail: michelle.jackson@neas.nhs.uk  

If you are happy to be involved, thank you, there’s nothing more we need you to do. The information we use for this research will be stored securely at the University of Sheffield and will only be kept for as long as needed.

Regardless of any decision that you make, please be assured that this will not affect your care in any way.

The data controller is the University of Sheffield. Privacy notice online at http://bit.ly/UoSdata  

(*The South Teesside CCG area of and surrounding Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland - post codes TS1, TS2, TS3, TS4, TS5, TS6, TS7, TS8, TS9, TS10, TS11, TS12, TS13, TS14, TS17).



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