High Intensity Users: High Intensity Users of 111/999 services.

DC0093

A small number of people account for a large number of contacts to urgent healthcare services including NHS111 and 999. These people, who are referred to as high intensity users, have a range of physical and mental health problems. These include severe or unstable disease needing treatment, alarming symptoms that have not received adequate diagnosis or explanation, severe mental health difficulties, and complex social circumstances where no other immediate support is available. Often these overlap. Ambulance services now identify high intensity users, particularly where there are social and mental health problems and provide support to deal with these. However these approaches to care may be less appropriate in the case of recurring and alarming physical symptoms.

For this study we aim to understand more about patterns of high intensity use of NHS 111 and Ambulance data in order to inform the development of new interventions to help people who make frequent calls to these services. We will analyse data collected routinely by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in the course of providing NHS111 and Ambulance care. This data has had all personal data removed and it will only be analysed in the Data Connect secure data environment at the University of Sheffield.

Our analysis will enable us to do report four things. First we will describe the extent of the problem of high intensity use. Second we will look at how patterns of high intensity use by individuals varies over time. Third we will look for patterns of use that suggest high intensity users with severe symptoms but little or no evidence of severe disease. Fourth we will look at patterns of high intensity use that suggest ongoing problems.

From this we hope to find ways to identify people who might benefit from additional interventions to improve their wellbeing and reduce their high intensity use. We have discussed the wider programme for this with our patient advisory group and they are supportive of this.

9 June 2025 and 27 April 2026

In progress

This is an initial step to describing a population of individuals who could benefit from new interventions targetted at physical symptoms and symptom related distress. A patient and public involvement focus group identified this population, and services for them as an important one to address.

This data analysis will contribute to benefits by providing greater understanding of the problem, in particular looking for patterns which are indicative of ongoing demand and unsatisfactory care from the patient perspective.

Longer term, the data and insights from this work will directly inform a future research and innovation proposal to develop services to support patients in ways that improves their experiences and outcomes with a net reduction in health service activity.

No

Yes

Yorkshire and Humber Secure Data Environment