A STRUGGLING new NHS helpline service providing vital out-of-hours care to Tenbury patients is expected to come under massive pressure this weekend.

The new NHS 111 urgent helpline has been struggling to cope since its initial launch in Worcestershire last week.

There have been reports of patients calling the service being left waiting for up to two hours for what should be instant medical advice, while leading doctors’ body the British Medical Association believes medical advice being given out is “questionable” and that the entire 111 service is “in chaos”.

NHS 111 is being introduced across the country to replace NHS Direct and was launched in the West Midlands on Tuesday, initially only for out-of-hours calls.

It had been lined up for a full launch in Worcestershire on Monday but that has now been delayed indefinitely as bosses figure out how to resolve the problems.

However, the out-of-hours service will still be expected to cope over the traditionally busy bank holiday weekend.

Wayne Bartlett, West Midlands regional project director for NHS 111, admitted there had been “significant” difficulties with the new service, but is adamant it will not buckle under the weight of weekend demand.

“The service encountered some significant operational and technical issues on implementation,” he said.

“Our immediate priority was to ensure patient safety was not compromised, and as soon as we realised there was an issue we instructed our NHS 111 provider – NHS Direct – to immediately implement a number of measures to ensure that the call handling is handled appropriately and safely at all times.

“The NHS Commissioning Board, working with the lead clinical commissioning group, has put robust processes in place to monitor the situation extremely closely over the coming days in order to support the expected demand over the Easter bank holiday weekend.”

A spokesman for West Midlands NHS 111 was unable to say when the service’s delayed launch would take place.

She insisted Monday had never been given as a firm launch date and that the idea had always been “that the service will launch when it is ready”.