Children’s ED Advice Line

Process for taking calls

Calls will be manually diverted from Children’s ED into the System CAS (SCAS) At the start of the shift, the Shift Manager will ask you to make a test call to the line to ensure that it is diverting correctly. The phone number to use is 0117 3428666. Calling this number will go through to a list of IVR options, one of which will come through to the SCAS so that those trying to contact the Emergency Department directly are able to.

In order to answer the Children’s ED Advice Line calls, you will need to be logged in using one of the following extension numbers 3120, 3121 and 3122.

The process for taking these calls is detailed in the flowchart below:

Cases will be visible in the UTC Advice queue, which sits under the System CAS header in the Adastra menu.

Please validate each case by pressing Look Up after taking the Date of Birth and name. You can then check the rest of the demographics you are asking for against the Spine records. Please ask for information rather than reading what is on the screen – eg. “Which GP Practice is the patient registered at?” rather than “Is the patient still with Malago Surgery?”. Always repeat phone numbers back to the caller to ensure you have recorded them correctly.

Call Script

Good morning/afternoon/evening, you’re through to NAME on the Children’s ED Advice Line, please can I take some quick details from you before transferring you to a paediatric clinician.”
Please can I take a direct contact number for you in case we need to call you back?
What is your name? (Please ascertain title/profession here too if not clear – eg. Are you a GP?)
Please can you confirm the patient’s Date of Birth?
What is their name? (confirm spellings here)
Which GP Practice is the patient registered with?
Do you have a contact number for the parents or carers?
What is the first line of the patient’s address?
What is the patient’s NHS number?

Red phone/ Pre-Alert calls

Should we receive a call from a Paramedic who is trying to access the ‘red phone’ or ‘pre-alert phone’ to inform the ED that they are bringing in an Emergency patient, please advise that they have come through to the wrong phone number but that you can transfer them on this occasion. Please advise that the number they should be using for this is 0117 3428999 (the number they have called but ending in 999 rather than 666). Due to the emergency nature of this call, please then transfer the caller to this number.

Calls from parents/carers of patients

Should we receive a call from a parent/carer of a patient who is trying to contact the Emergency Department, please use your judgement to assess the situation and advise the following:

If the caller is referencing a pre-agreed careplan type situation (ie. they have been told to call this number before bringing in their child due to special requirements etc), please ask the parent/carer to call the number they have just called but to select Option 4 which will put them straight through to the Emergency Department
If the caller is trying to refer the patient to the Emergency Department, discuss a previous episode of care, advise of worsening etc, please politely advise the caller to contact their own GP (if in-hours), or NHS111 (if Out of Hours)

If you are unsure of what to do, please take advice from the Shift Manager.

Other queries

As this is a new and evolving service, other queries are likely to surface as we go through the coming weeks and months. If you are unsure what to do with a call, please discuss this with the Shift Manager who can escalate to a Team Manager if necessary. This Handbook will continue to be updated and the newest version will always be available on Radar.

Safety Calling

Along with answering incoming calls on the Paediatric Line, another important duty of the SCAS Call Handler is Safety Calling breached cases appearing in any of the SCAS queues. These queues are:

UTC Advice (Currently Paediatric Line cases)
System CAS Remote Assessment (ED/999 cases)
AWP Advice
Minor Injury

If a case in any of these queues breaches its timeframe (turns black in Performance Management column), the SCAS Call Handler should make a Safety Call to the patient. Due to the shorter disposition timeframes on these cases, we do not need to Safety Call before the case turns black.

During a Safety Call:

Introduce yourself – Please use your name and role (Call Handler), and advise you are calling from the Clinical Assessment Service, following the patient’s call to NHS111
Check on patient’s symptoms – Please ask how the patient is feeling, and directly ask them if there has been any changes or worsening to their condition

Note. When Safety Calling SCAS cases, you do not need to give worsening advice as you would do when Safety Calling the IUC Advice queue. Instead, please add a Priority tag to any cases where worsening/concerning symptoms/changes are identified. Due to the nature of SCAS, patients’ symptoms are likely to be of higher acuity than those coming through to the IUC Advice queue, therefore any cases tagged as a Priority will need an immediate response from a clinician. Please ensure tagged cases are highlighted to the Shift Manager and/or a clinician straight away.

Priority Tagging a case

To add a Priority casetag to a case, right-click on the case from the queue it is appearing in, and select ‘Change casetag’. From the list which appears, select Priority Call and click Next.

Safety Calling Script
Good morning/afternoon/evening, is this NAME?

My name is NAME and I’m a Call Handler calling from the Clinical Assessment Service following your call to NHS111. I would just like to apologise for the delay you have experienced so far, one of our clinical team will be calling you as soon as they can. I am just calling to ask how you are doing and check if there are any changes or worsening to your symptoms since you called?

Please keep your phone with you and one of our clinicians will be in touch with you as soon as they are available.

Failed Contact Process

Please follow our usual Failed Contact process for any patients who have missed a call attempt. This process is detailed in full in the IUC Call Handler Handbook which can be found on Radar.

System CAS Call Handler Handbook

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