Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the guidance issued to call-handlers recruited in March 2020 to NHS 111 in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

All call handlers recruited to the NHS 111 COVID-19 Response Service are trained by accredited National Health Service staff and supported by experienced clinicians. They receive mandatory training in areas including safeguarding and patient data privacy, as well as a comprehensive training course on the COVID-19 clinical pathway and must pass an assessment before taking any live calls.

COVID-19 call handlers use an internal online tool for guidance, which is continually updated as more becomes known about the virus. This guidance is subject to stringent clinical review and approval before use to ensure its accuracy.