NHS Direct Wales is a 24-hour telephone and internet health advice service provided by NHS Wales to enable people to obtain advice when use of the national emergency telephone number (999 or 112) does not seem to be appropriate but there is some degree of urgency; it also functions as a confidential advice service for some medical matters which a patient might be reluctant to discuss with their own General Practitioner (GP) and has subsidiary helplines for specific health matters such as human papillomavirus (HPV).
[1] It does not replace any of the existing emergency or non-emergency medical services but complements those already existing and enables callers who might not be fully able to diagnose themselves to be directed to care of an appropriate level of urgency, including transport to hospital if the diagnosis merits that action.
This service was originally provided as part of NHS Direct covering both England and Wales until it was transferred to Welsh control in June 2001.
The service also fronts many of the helplines on behalf of Public Health dealing with issues such as the cryptosporidia outbreak in North Wales, HPV, smoking etc.
The NHS Direct Wales website provides a gateway to a number of resources in English, Welsh and other languages including a health encyclopaedia[8] and the locations of GP surgeries, dentists, pharmacists, opticians, and other services.