Reducing stress, improving care

A pioneering partnership between Leeds Beckett University and urgent care provider Integrated Care 24 (IC24) is tackling rising stress levels in NHS 111 call centres – using cutting-edge psychological science and AI to transform staff wellbeing and patient care.

The three-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), part-funded by UKRI through Innovate UK, will deliver a real-time stress monitoring and response system for call handlers – aiming to reduce burnout, lower staff turnover and boost service quality.

IC24 handles over a million NHS 111 calls annually. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, it plays a critical frontline role in triaging patients to the right care – from GPs to A&E. Recognising the high-pressure nature of this work, IC24 is working closely with Leeds Beckett experts to embed a technology-driven solution into its daily operations.

The project builds on a previous collaboration between IC24 and Dr Jim Morgan, which funded a PhD to explore patient safety outcomes in NHS 111. That early work highlighted the toll high-stress environments take on staff – leading to this ambitious new KTP that brings together a multidisciplinary team spanning psychology, AI and digital health.

Co-created, evidence-based innovation

A graduate-level KTP Associate will be embedded full-time within IC24, collaborating with LBU’s research team to design a real-time system that identifies high-risk stress points, supports wellbeing and enables a proactive organisational response.

Joining Dr Jim Morgan are:

• Professor Grigoris Antoniou – AI specialist with NHS digital health expertise
• Dr Farrukh Saleem – Computing and systems integration expert
• Dr Therese Fozard and Dr Samet Arslan – Psychology lecturers focusing on stress, resilience and human factors

This team is co-developing a scalable, tech-integrated solution that’s not only innovative, but grounded in real-world application across urgent care environments.