MEDICAL consultations could be conducted via confidential web chats under plans outlined by the new chief executive of Scottish helpline NHS 24.

Patients can already talk about issues such as quitting smoking or organising care for a relative with an adviser over the internet.

Angiolina Foster, who was parachuted into the role of chief executive at NHS 24 amid an IT fiasco, has outlined plans to expand the ways in which patients can obtain healthcare advice.

Ms Foster, in her first interview since being appointed, reflected that those under the age of 35, in particular, choose to access information through their mobile phones – but not necessarily by making phone calls.

She said: “Offering channel choice to people is both sensible because there’s channel preferences now, but also it is a way of making sure the services offered are economically delivered as well.

“For me, increasing the digital presence of our service offering is a way of getting closer to citizens. There are conversations happening out there that we need to be tapping into to understand some population need.”

NHS 24 has already conducted a trial sending unsolicited messages about quitting smoking to people who mentioned their nicotine habits on Twitter.

Ms Foster noted research by Stonewall, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, that found the community tended to be “less comfortable” about going to GP surgeries or hospital clinics and preferred the “relative privacy” of ringing NHS 24.

Other ‘channels’ for accessing health information might also offer more privacy, she said, adding: “There is something about... making sure people do not fail to get access to information because they do not have their preferred channel choice.”

The web chats already offered by NHS 24 involve using a widget (an internet icon) on the website front page to start a conversation. Across smoking, care and fit for work services they are conducting between 80 and 140 webchats a month. Within the specified hours, those who instigate a conversation, should get an immediate response.

A new IT and telecommunications platform for handling all calls and patient information at NHS 24 has been the subject of snowballing controversy and concern. It is £50 million over budget, more than three years behind schedule and was launched twice last year only to be withdrawn amid safety fears.

The latest board papers refer to the need for 104 system changes to ensure the system is ready for relaunch.

Ms Foster, who also heads up Healthcare Improvement Scotland which inspects hospitals and care services, is the third chief executive to try to deliver the package. 

She said some staff would start using the technology, known as the Future Programme, at the end of September, but not those manning the 111 phone number, which takes all calls to GPs when surgeries are shut. Instead, a single health board area will be chosen to pilot the new technology on the 111 line next spring.

Ms Foster said changes to the way patient calls are handled will also be introduced to this area at the same time. This, she said, includes looking at the balance of calls handled by a trained clinical staff and those dealt with by call handlers. She did not indicate how that balance might change, but indicated she expected it to make care better for patients.

Ms Foster said: “I think it is foolish to expect any system that is simply a technology platform to bear the weight or all changes and improvement that might be needed. I think we need to realise that real improvement comes both from your technology platform and operational changes behind the scenes as well.”

 Esther Roberton, chairwoman of NHS 24, said the organisation had learned from the aborted launches of the Future Programme last year that it needed to listen more carefully to health boards running frontline services. 

Catherine Somerville, campaigns, policy and research manager for Stonewall Scotland, welcomed the prospect of the new system ways for patients to seek health advice.  She said: “Stonewall Scotland research indicates that LGBT people may be more likely to use NHS 24’s services as their preferred point of contact with the NHS. Any steps to improve the accessibility of all NHS services for LGBT patients is positive. We look forward to working with NHS 24 to ensure that this move continues to improve the experiences of LGBT patients.”