How we regulate NHS 111 services

About this consultation

We developed the plans for NHS 111 services with providers and stakeholders with an interest in our work . There are important developments taking place in the way care is provided in England to people with urgent needs and we will continue to work closely with NHS England and urgent care services as we develop our approach.

We took all feedback into account, plus the findings from three pilot inspection, before publishing our final handbook for providers on 30 June 2015.

We are rolling out our inspection approach for NHS 111 services from June 2015.

The main features of our planned approach are:

• The same framework of the five key questions, key lines of enquiry and prompts as for GP practices and GP out of hours services, with minor changes to ensure they are appropriate for NHS 111 services.
• An inspection team comprised of our expert inspectors and clinical and other experts
• The use of information, including people’s experiences of care, to decide when, where and what to inspect
• A programme of scheduled, comprehensive inspections, alongside focussed inspections which are responsive to concerns, target particular issues, or update information about services in between comprehensive inspections

We will inspect and rate all NHS 111 services by March 2017. After that, services will be inspected and rated at least once every three years.