Latest on NHS - why calling 111 has problems.

[mekalu2k4]

Take a peak at this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ll-centre-service-got-300-000-pay-salary.html

Recently there were many threads here on lack of response from 111, and this article concurs with those experiences.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Take a peak at this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ll-centre-service-got-300-000-pay-salary.html

Recently there were many threads here on lack of response from 111, and this article concurs with those experiences.

It's an interesting topic but I think the title of your post is a bit alarmist, and inaccurate. Calling a helpline does work, most of the time, and is far better than asking for personal medical advice from a forum when there is an after hours crisis going on. If people call 111 and can't get an answer in the timeframe they need, then they can call 999, or a friend, or their local hospital. It's worth trying other options if it's important.

EDITED: Originally this thread had the title "why calling 111 never works".

 

[mekalu2k4]

It's an interesting topic but I think the title of your post is a bit alarmist, and inaccurate. Calling a helpline does work, most of the time,

Well, I am not sure how my title can is alarmist or inaccurate. See the excerpts from the article:

One woman told of how she lost her one-year-old son William to blood poisoning after she was advised simply to give him Calpol by a 111 operator with no medical training.

senior responsible officer of NHS England’s NHS 111 Implementation Group even though the launch of the out-of-hours service was condemned by doctors’ leaders as an ‘abject failure’.

Disturbing evidence shows the service is in meltdown, with only one nurse left to cover an area of 2.3million people.

NHS 111 – which replaced NHS Direct and deals with urgent cases – has failed to meet targets every month so far this year and half a million patients have been unable to get through at all.

At the British Medical Association local medical committees conference in May 2013, Manchester GP John Hughes described the implementation as an ‘omnishambles, a complete disaster’.

Because staff at 111 are not medical professionals, they rely on a computer system called ‘pathways’ to make decisions about patient care. But Miss Quick said she became increasingly concerned about its reliability.

She claimed it would often send out ambulances for ‘stupid, petty things’ instead of people who really needed help. ‘I must have sent out ambulances so many times for silly reasons,’ she said.

And a lot of stuff on the article - one needs to 'read between the lines'!

It is not me, many scholars felt & described NHS-111 as 'complete disaster' / 'abject failure'. The current state of NHS is really alarming and needs urgent action. If I know that over 30 folks are waiting before on the line, I would not wait for it; and that means it did not work.

On top of that - a mother calling for help - then losing the kid by following the advise? common! Still is it not alarming? or is it the way it is 'supposed to work'?

Lastly, I am not agent to DM or not against nhs-111. It is just about sharing a current news article.

 

[ButtterflyLady]

Well, I am not sure how my title can is alarmist or inaccurate. See the excerpts from the article:

One woman told of how she lost her one-year-old son William to blood poisoning after she was advised simply to give him Calpol by a 111 operator with no medical training.

senior responsible officer of NHS England’s NHS 111 Implementation Group even though the launch of the out-of-hours service was condemned by doctors’ leaders as an ‘abject failure’.

Disturbing evidence shows the service is in meltdown, with only one nurse left to cover an area of 2.3million people.

NHS 111 – which replaced NHS Direct and deals with urgent cases – has failed to meet targets every month so far this year and half a million patients have been unable to get through at all.

At the British Medical Association local medical committees conference in May 2013, Manchester GP John Hughes described the implementation as an ‘omnishambles, a complete disaster’.

Because staff at 111 are not medical professionals, they rely on a computer system called ‘pathways’ to make decisions about patient care. But Miss Quick said she became increasingly concerned about its reliability.

She claimed it would often send out ambulances for ‘stupid, petty things’ instead of people who really needed help. ‘I must have sent out ambulances so many times for silly reasons,’ she said.

And a lot of stuff on the article - one needs to 'read between the lines'!

It is not me, many scholars felt & described NHS-111 as 'complete disaster' / 'abject failure'. The current state of NHS is really alarming and needs urgent action. If I know that over 30 folks are waiting before on the line, I would not wait for it; and that means it did not work.

On top of that - a mother calling for help - then losing the kid by following the advise? common! Still is it not alarming? or is it the way it is 'supposed to work'?

Lastly, I am not agent to DM or not against nhs-111. It is just about sharing a current news article.

Calling a thread on a diabetes support forum "why calling 111 never works" is unhelpful. Often there are threads where someone is having a medical issue and it's not appropriate for any of us to attempt to give medical advice. It's also against the forum rules. So we suggest they call 111 or 999.

I agree with you there is a problem with the 111 service. But your thread title may put people off calling 111 when they need to. You could have called it "Concerned about 111 service" or something. Can't you see that saying the service "never" works is problematic? For "never" to be factually correct, there would have to be no calls that get answered, and that's simply not the case.

 

[mekalu2k4]

I agree with you there is a problem with the 111 service.

- ok.

So we suggest they call 111 or 999.

- even NHS suggests the same!

 

[catherinecherub]

I have changed the title.
The 111 service, like many things, is patchy and in some areas there are problems and yet in others they give an excellent service and will pass your call onto a 999 operator if they think it is necessary. I have known them to call an ambulance for an elderly neighbour.

Do you have anything similar where you live @mekalu2k4?