NHS 24 is the name of a confidential health advice and information service provided by NHS Scotland

NHS Scotland

NHS Scotland is the publicly funded healthcare system of Scotland. Although they are separate bodies the organisational separation between NHS Scotland and the other three healthcare organisations each commonly called the National Health Service in the United Kingdom tends to be hidden from its...

. It is the equivalent to the NHS Direct

NHS Direct

NHS Direct is the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service for residents and visitors in England, with advice offered 24 hours a day, every day of the year through telephone contact on the national 0845 46 47 number, web based symptom checkers at and via...

 scheme in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and NHS Direct Wales

NHS Direct Wales

NHS Direct Wales is a 24-hour telephone and internet health advice service provided by NHS Wales to enable people to obtain advice when use of the national emergency telephone number does not seem to be appropriate but there is some degree of urgency; it also functions as a confidential advice...

, allowing people who feel unwell or those caring for them to obtain advice if it is not convenient or possible to wait until they can visit their General Practitioner

General practitioner

A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...

 when the practice is next open. It is not intended as a substitute for obtaining an emergency ambulance service via 999

999 (emergency telephone number)

999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....

.

Self-Help Guide (Internet)

This enables a diagnosis to be made without assistance by answering a series of questions after accessing the main http://www.nhs24.com web page and selecting the NHS Self-help guide option. Users will be given one of three final results :-

• Self-Care, if it is safe to manage the problem at home
• Call NHS 24, if it is necessary to speak to a member of NHS 24 staff for further advice
• Dial 999, if the problem requires the use of an ambulance service

The Internet service also provides access to an NHS Health Encyclopaedia which gives information on illnesses, conditions, tests and treatment and to Pharmacy Opening Times throughout Scotland.

The internet information is used under licence from the UK Department of Health and is based on (thus not necessarily identical to) the content displayed by the English service NHS Direct

NHS Direct

NHS Direct is the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service for residents and visitors in England, with advice offered 24 hours a day, every day of the year through telephone contact on the national 0845 46 47 number, web based symptom checkers at and via...

.

Telephone

08454 24 24 24

This is the normal telephone number for most callers who are able to use a telephone without difficulty.
A translation service is provided for a number of languages for which leaflets are issued which instruct callers to tell the NHS 24 staff :-

"I am [nationality described in English], I do not speak English."

18001 08454 24 24 24

This number is used for callers who have to use a Textphone.

At the end of the consultation, NHS 24 will contact the Scottish Ambulance Service

Scottish Ambulance Service

The Scottish Ambulance Service is part of NHS Scotland, and serves all of Scotland. It is a Special Health Board funded directly by the Scottish Government Health Department....

 if necessary.

Instructions for use of the service by non-English speakers are available on the website or in paper form by calling 0141 435 3901http://www.nhs24.com/content/default.asp?page=s1_8_2 .

Organisation

NHS24 is controlled by the NHS 24 Boardhttp://www.nhs24.com/content/default.asp?page=s21. The Board is a Special Health Board created in 2001 by the (then) Scottish Executive

Scottish Executive

The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...

 using powers under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.