It's a shame that NHS Direct is both relatively costly to call, and very variable in terms of quality of advice given. It seems to me that they're the ideal starting point for a free-to-call, "is it an emergency?" service, assuming that all NHS Direct staffers can be trained to not panic and send an ambulance at the drop of a hat (and note that in my experience of NHS Direct - two calls so far - I've not had an ambulance called for me).