// BBC HEALTH NEWS — SALUTE
Health minister instructs trusts to pause cuts to Phone First service
Phone First services direct patients to the most appropriate health service, depending on the severity of their condition - stock image
Northern Ireland's health minister has instructed trusts which have not yet stood down their Phone First service to "pause any planned cessation" of the scheme.
The telephone triage system has already been scrapped by the Belfast Trust; it was to end within weeks in the Northern Trust and is under review in the Western Trust.
Phone First is aimed at reducing unnecessary visits to hospital emergency departments (EDs) by providing advice to patients on appropriate care options.
In a statement to BBC News NI, the Department of Health (DoH) said health trusts that have not yet stood the service down will be "liaising with their external providers for an extension".
The Northern Trust's line was due to close on 27 November, but its interim chief executive, Suzanne Pullins said on Thursday that they have been told to "pause the formal withdrawal to allow for reassessment".
Pullins announced the development as she appeared before Stormont's Health Committee to answer questions about the trust's savings plans.
Last month, committee members had expressed concern that Phone First was being cut just as hospital EDs prepared to deal with increased winter pressures.
Pullins acknowledged those concerns on Thursday, saying the decision to stand it down was in "no way a reflection of the service" which was "very valued".
But she explained that there were "no easy choices" given the scale of the financial savings the trust had been asked to find.