Abbot Mead Vickers.BBDO and PHD to promote NHS Direct helpline

NHS Direct, the patient helpline, has appointed Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO and PHD to develop a £2m campaign to promote its phone service. It follows a three-way pitch against teams of WCRS and Carat and St Luke’s and Experience.

The agencies will now work on a TV and press campaign that will focus on the phone service, which is due to break later in the year. NHS Direct is also available over e-mail and digital TV platforms Sky Digital and Freeview. The pitch was overseen by COI.

Its recent campaigns have focused on its availability on newer platforms but it is now keen to remind people about the phone service.