The 111 number, which has been tested in four areas, will be available nationally by April 2013.
The service will replace NHS Direct, which the government announced it was scrapping last year.
It will give health advice and information about services such as out-of-hours GPs, walk-in centres, emergency dentists and pharmacies.
The government says it will reduce confusion and effectively abolish the concept of "out-of-hours" in the NHS.
After pilot schemes in County Durham, Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Luton, the service will be extended to the Isle of Wight and Chesterfield before Christmas.
The government says NHS Direct is expected to "retain a role" in its the delivery, staffed by call advisers supported by nurses.
Currently, around 14,000 people a day call NHS Direct for medical advice, with the service costing Â£123m a year to run.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "The new 111 service will mean patients can access the whole of the NHS through just one simple number.
"This marks another important step in modernising the NHS and giving patients greater control and choice over their healthcare."
Dr Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "Not only will callers to the service be advised on what to do but also be directed to the appropriate local service to address their need consistently.
"However, patients should be aware that this is not a replacement for the current system and that they can continue to call their GP practice as normal."
The change will not affect existing NHS helpline services in Scotland and Wales.
Critics claimed the decision to scrap NHS Direct would undermine the quality of the service by reducing the number of qualified nurses answering calls.
And shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said last year that the service saved the NHS Â£200m a year and played a key role in taking pressure off the health service.
But last June the British Medical Association said MPs should consider scrapping the telephone service, saying it was not cost-effective.

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Smith maintains there was "no reason" for Rangers to have to re-enter the league in the lowest tier.
"It'll be a massive motivation for Rangers. It would certainly be a motivation for me," said Smith.
He also believes the Ibrox board "have to find a way" to back manager Mark Warburton to compete in the top flight.
With the club mired in debt, Rangers entered administration and then liquidation in 2012 and had to re-enter the Scottish football pyramid in the fourth tier.
Smith feels Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic will not be an accurate gauge of how Rangers will fare next season and accepts Celtic are "the favoured team".
However, the former Rangers boss believes Warburton's men go into the tie in a "far more optimistic frame of mind than last season" when Celtic were comfortable winners in the League Cup semi-final.
"Four years ago, the club was at its lowest level ever," said Smith. "We were nearly starting a season, or were five days away from starting a season with only five players, no Rangers manager has ever been in that circumstance before.
"And no Rangers manager has ever been in the circumstance that he [Smith's successor Ally McCoist] was in for the next three years.
"I think it [ill feeling towards Rangers] will always be there.
"There was no necessity for Rangers to be put down into the Third Division and I think that's the thing that will always stay in Scottish football.
"I think there'll be a bitterness in the Rangers ranks that that's happened.
"There's no doubt it was the wrong move in my eyes. Scottish football has been worse off and a lot of the teams who were happy to see Rangers go down have suffered and found themselves relegated or in the process of being relegated.
"So, there will be that bitterness. How can they forget what happened to them there? You can't forget that."
On the prospect of providing a title challenge in the top flight, Smith said: "Celtic look as though they're going to get five in a row; it's a big thing.
"That's them closer to getting to the nine or 10 in a row. So, Rangers will have to show a reaction."
A non-emergency telephone number for NHS services is to launch across England, the Department of Health says.
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Former Rangers manager Walter Smith believes a sense of bitterness about the way the club was treated remains as they gear up for Premiership football.