To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2020 to Question 20040, NHS 111: Staff, how many (a) NHS staff, (b) contract staff and (c) volunteers his Department plans to recruit to the NHS 111 service to help mitigate the impact of covid-19.

The National Health Service will be given the resources it needs to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. Around 500 additional call handlers have already been trained to staff the NHS 111 service, representing an increase of 20%. In addition, the new NHS 111 online service is also available to provide advice and will free up call handlers’ time, so they are able to prioritise those experiencing symptoms.