SCOTLAND'S crisis-hit NHS 24 helpline will urge the public to stock up on medicines and first aid kits in time for Christmas and New Year as fears rise that the service faces collapse over the festive holidays.

With the backing of health minister Andy Kerr, the beleaguered service is planning a preChristmas publicity blitz in an attempt to reduce the number of calls its nurses receive over the notoriously busy period.

As the service prepares to launch its high-profile advertising campaign, the Sunday Herald has learned that NHS 24 has now drafted in GPs and pharmacists to its three call centres at weekends as it struggles to cope with the current demand.

NHS 24 bosses admitted for the first time last month that doctors were being used to screen calls to its South Queensferry centre in order to meet the increasing winter workload, but described it as "very much a pilot project".

However, it has now emerged that, following a series of high-profile failures -including the case of Aberdeen teenager Shomi Miah, who died from meningitis in October after her family was told by NHS 24 staff to give her paracetamol - a decision was taken to roll out the use of pharmacists and GPs.

The Miahs have been joined by 15 other families who say mistakes are costing lives, and they are preparing to send a dossier to the service's managers to support their claims.

Shona Robison, the SNP health spokeswoman, said concerns were mounting that staffing problems will mean the helpline will be unable to cope over the Christmas period.

Existing problems in meeting demand will be compounded this year as responsibility for out-of-hours provision transfers completely from GPs to NHS 24 on December 31.

Robison has written to Kerr seeking reassurances from the minister that NHS 24 will be able to cope with the pressure over the festive period.

She writes: "My concern arises from the current staffing shortages in NHS 24, the time that callers are having to wait for their calls to be dealt with and the fact that they will soon be responsible for all GP outof-hours services."

Robison said news of the publicity campaign and the increased use of GPs and pharmacists in the service underlined her fear that NHS 24 is close to collapse.

"It is my fear that it could collapse. All this says to me is that the service is under pressure and that they are struggling to cope. We know there are staffing difficulties and that people are having to wait too long to have their calls answered.

"If GPs and pharmacists have to be brought in over the Christmas period to ensure safety, then of course that is fine. I would rather have that than an unsafe service. But they seem to be departing from its original plan, which was to be a nurse-led service."

Robison called for a major review of NHS 24 in the new year. She added: "I'm still looking for assurances from the health minister that it will be able to cope, particularly with it taking on out-of-hours services. I would like his assurance that it is robust enough."

NHS chiefs have already said that around 450 more nursing advisers are needed to handle the heavy volume of calls. At an NHS 24 board meeting last month, acting chief executive Bill Templeton admitted that targets for recruiting staff over Christmas would not be reached.

Julie Campbell, a nurse and former NHS 24 call handler from Glasgow, said she left the service after bosses began making staff work "unreasonable" weekend shifts.

She said: "When I joined they said the maximum we would work was one weekend in two, but they ended up making us work seven in every eight. They were inflexible and I had no choice but to resign. A lot of people were disillusioned by what was happening there. I trained with eight others and after five months working there, four of us had left."

NHS 24 bosses are believed to be considering setting up temporary local call centres in partnership with health boards to ease the pressure over the festive period.

However, there are concerns among GPs that additional pressures will mean that some of them will be forced to work over Christmas and New Year.

One Glasgow GP said:

"There is no doubt that they [NHS 24] are under strain.

There has been talk of GPs having to work over Christmas and New Year even though this will be the first year that they do not have to work. Doctors can always be found if there is an emergency."

A spokeswoman for NHS 24 said: "Our experience shows that the festive season is likely to be our busiest time of the year. We have therefore been working closely for some considerable time with our partners to plan for the expected increase in demand.

"NHS 24 implemented the first phase of the Peak Volume Management Team pilot out of the east contact centre at South Queensferry. From Saturday, December 4, a team has been operational in each of NHS 24's three centres.

"They will be in operation throughout our three centres over all eight Christmas and New Year public holidays. In addition, staff have agreed to work six out of eight public holidays over Christmas and New Year."

She added that a "preChristmas publicity campaign" would involve advising the public to ensure they have an adequate supply of any regular medication, as well as suitably stocked home medicine cabinets and first aid kits.