An independent health body has questioned whether a new 111 non-emergency telephone number will cut hospital admissions.

The NHS Alliance, which represents GPs, nurses and managers in primary care, said the 111 number, which will be launched by NHS North West and go live in East Lancashire in September, had ‘unachievable aims’.

Primary care trusts including Blackburn with Darwen Care Trust Plus have identified the number for non-urgent emergency care as a key strategy in their plans to reduce hospital admissions.

The Care Trust Plus said it believed the free telephone line could help save nearly 20,000 ‘non-elective’ admissions this year but only if part of a wider strategy to reduce non-elective admissions.

Acting as an alternative to 999, people calling 111 will be able to get health advice and also information about local services such as out-of-hours GPs, walk-in centres, emergency dentists and 24-hour pharmacies.

It is hoped it will take the pressure off 999 calls, but anyone calling the number with an emergency will have an ambulance dispatched without the need for the call to be transferred.

The service will not initially replace NHS Direct, but the Government wants the 111 running nationwide by April 2013.

However, the NHS Alliance said these targets were “unlikely to be achievable” and called for a “meaningful and engaging discussion” with GPs on the implementation of the number.

In a paper published this week, it said: “Interestingly all of this is to be achieved within existing health budgets – there is no extra money.

“If there is no new money, then implementing 111 requires a business case that stacks up.

“What has been designed, though laudable in its intentions, is a service that is unlikely to be achievable within local health economies and which will transfer responsibility and control of the gateway to ‘unscheduled’ care outside of local health communities and into large-scale call centres.”

Neil Matthewman, managing director of health services for the Blackburn with Darwen Care Trust Plus, said it hoped the number would help end ‘confusion’ surrounding NHS services.

He said: “We believe that the new number will make a difference to health care in our borough by helping to remove uncertainty that people may feel around where to go for medical advice.

"It is hoped it will significantly improve the efficiency of our services by ensuring people receive the right care, from the right person at the right time.

"We welcome the opportunity to be a pilot area for the new number and the first in the north west to trial this.”