Table 3.

Responders’ use of NHS 24

Question	Answer	n	%
How many times used NHS 24 telephone in total	Once	245	41.1
	2–5 times	279	46.8
	6–10 times	54	9.1
	>10 times	18	3.0
How many times used NHS 24 telephone in past year	None	312	52.6
	Once	181	30.5
	2–5 times	91	15.3
	>5 times	9	1.5
When was your call?	During normal hours	45	7.6
	Out of hours	549	92.4
Where were you?	At own home	526	88.7
	Other	67	11.3
Who was the call for?	You	272	45.4
	Your child	114	19.0
	Your spouse/partner	119	19.9
	Your parent	34	5.7
	Another relative	33	5.5
	Neighbour	5	0.8
	Other	22	3.7
Reasons for using NHS 24 instead of another servicea	Out of hours	484	87.5
	Too ill to leave home	91	16.5
	Don’t know who else to contact	49	8.9
	It was quick — no waiting time	45	8.1
	It was convenient	31	5.6
	Don’t want to bother GP	23	4.2
	Could not get a GP appointment	21	3.8
	Unhappy with previous health professional	7	1.3
Reason for calling NHS 24	Advice about a new symptom/problem	414	69.0
	Advice about an ongoing symptom/problem	171	28.5
	General health advice or local information	15	2.5

^aMore than one reason could be given.