Hotline struggles to cope as cases spike

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) has pledged to improve waiting times on its 1330 hotline, citing increasing demand.

Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree, secretary-general of the NHSO, said the hotline has been bombarded with calls inquiring about beds and medical care since Covid-19 caseloads surged in recent weeks due to the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant.

The hotline has been receiving between 40,000 and 70,000 calls a day, and with no corresponding increase in staff numbers to meet the demand many people have been unable to get through, he said.

“Even though the NHSO has asked people to work as volunteers replying to questions, there are still more incoming calls than they can handle,” Dr Jadet said.

He asked people to add the @nhso ID on the Line app as an alternative means of communicating with the agency.

Dr Jadet said many non-urgent…