Scots left feeling ‘helpless’ as 17% of calls to NHS 24 abandoned with no answer

Almost one in five calls to the medical advice line NHS 24 were abandoned without being answered over the last two years, with new figures also showing one person waited more than three-and-a-half hours simply for their call to be answered.

Figures released in response to a freedom of information request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats show that over the period April 2024 to June 2026 a total of 625,704 calls to the service were “discontinued” – 17% of all calls.

Over the period January to July last year, 16% of calls took more than an hour to be answered – although NHS 24 said this could include cases where the person “chose to discontinue their call”

A caller looking for help waited three hours 39 minutes for a response in October 2025, with another caller the following month waiting three hours and 25 minutes.

With the FoI request covering 2024-25, 2025-26 and this year to date, the longest wait for a call to be answered over the period was four hours and two minutes in September 2024.

Lib Dem health spokesman Adam Harley said Scots looking for medical advice would be left feeling “utterly helpless” as a result of the long waits.

Over the period 2024-25 and 2025-26, there were 3,727,751 calls made to the medical advice line – which people can contact at any time by dialling 111.

Harley said the data on calls that were abandoned and on long waits for some callers show difficulties in getting medical help had become “a universal experience”.

The Lib Dem MSP said: “People feel utterly helpless if they are left waiting for hours on the other end of a phone line.

“Whether it’s phoning NHS 111, calling an ambulance or trying to get seen at A&E, the struggle to access healthcare is a universal experience for people across Scotland.

“None of this is the fault of staff, who are trying their very best with the resources they have. In the face of such huge demand for care, they need to be supported.

“It’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats would increase capacity across our NHS, resolve staffing issues with a rolling 10-year NHS workforce plan, and increase the efficiency of IT systems to help cut waits.

“This is the kind of action that will deliver for patients and staff, and I will be using my voice in Parliament to make that case to the Government.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson stressed that “long waits for help are unacceptable”.

The spokesperson said: “Whilst we have invested more than £26.9 million additional funding into NHS 24 to support new digital innovation and the recruitment of over 100 call handlers and 98 clinical supervisors, we are clear the new reforms of our healthcare system are required to ensure people get the help they need as quickly as possible.

“Our reform of the NHS will be focused on improving services directly for people to ensure they don’t have to face unnecessary waits or navigate a complicated system.

“In the meantime, ministers expect NHS 24 to continue to work hard to ensure calls to its 111 service are answered as quickly and safely as possible.

“We appreciate NHS 24 staff are working incredibly hard and it is important to be clear calls can go unanswered for a variety of reasons, including patients choosing to end their call to access self-care advice via the NHS Inform website, contacting a more appropriate area of the health service or choosing an NHS 24 callback service during busier periods.”

NHS 24 meanwhile stressed that its “hardworking and dedicated staff manage over 1.8 million calls a year”.

A spokesperson also told how “performance has significantly improved” after an upgraded digital technology platform was introduced “with an additional 11,500 calls per month being answered since April 2026, compared to the previous period in 2025”.

The spokesperson continued: “Since November 2025, more than 28% of calls have been answered within one minute and 37% of all calls within five minutes.

“We have also seen a 10-minute reduction in overall patient journey time since 24-25, meaning people are getting access to the care they need sooner.

“During very busy periods, patients may have to wait longer than usual for their call to be answered. In addition, when our service is very busy, some callers choose to hang up (discontinue) their call to 111 and call back later.

“Others choose to access a more appropriate route to care based on information they have heard in our telephony messaging. We may advise that other sources of advice such as GPs, pharmacies, or our digital advice service NHS Inform could give them access to the support they need.

“Callers experiencing an emergency are always advised to hang up and dial 999.”

The spokesperson stated: “NHS 24 remains committed to offering timely access to high-quality care for everyone who needs to contact our services. Our processes are continuously monitored and reviewed to improve access and deliver the best possible outcomes for everyone who uses our services.”