Almost 150,000 calls to the NHS 24 helpline in Scotland during the first six months of this year were abandoned before an operator responded, new figures have revealed.
Callers waited an average of 13 minutes but one person hung on for more than two hours 45 minutes to speak to an operator about a health concern.
Of the 147,931 abandoned queries, January was the worst month with 34,594 calls ended early. At the time the average wait for a reply was 19 minutes 51 seconds. The figures were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through freedom of information requests.
NHS 24 is intended for people to access medical advice when GP surgeries are closed or overstretched. The Scottish government urges people to take advantage of it
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