PRESS RELEASE

May 1st, 2009

Call centre workers can help handle flu calls

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil has called on the Scottish Government to make use of the area ’s call centre expertise to help deal with the swine flu crisis.

As the threat of a pandemic grows, he has expressed concern that NHS 24 will not be able to manage the flood of calls expected alongside their already significant workload.

And he has suggested that Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon take up the offer by Telecom Service Centres (TSC) to use its staff, equipment and site in Greenock to help with a dedicated helpline.

Some of the staff are currently facing redundancy because of T-Mobile’s decision to outsource work to The Philippines and Mr McNeil believes it would also be a welcome boost to the workers.

The MSP said: “We have a substantial team of call centre workers at TSC in Greenock and they could be up and running in days to help deal with this crisis.

“Given that Scotland is at the heart of this crisis, we could expect a flood of calls that could swamp NHS 24 workers.

“The health secretary needs to ensure that NHS 24 is not overburdened if this situation continues to grow.

“The expertise and extra capacity that TSC could provide would allow NHS 24 the opportunity to concentrate on the 1.5 million calls they are already take through the year.

“The skills of the staff at TSC were praised by the First Minister in his answer to my parliamentary question last week and the Scottish Government should consider making good use of them at this time.”

ENDS