Being vile to 111

I can understand some frustration when the repeated questions seem pointless - e.g. a dd with a 4 day old baby was asked 3 times whether she could be pregnant! - but they are obliged to follow a script so there’s no excuse for getting shirty with them.

Having said that, I was only grateful to 111 the sole time I needed to ring them, because of shallow, painful breathing. An ambulance arrived PDQ.

What sort of stuff do people say to you OP?

The general public are entitled arseholes OP. I worked for the Scottish version for years and even the ones who weren’t in need of emergency treatment were vile.

Callers don’t realise that the triage questions are there as a form of safety because we can’t do a visual triage, not for our own personal interest. We want them off the phone getting help as quick as possible too

People are scared, in pain, tired, probably more stressed if it's their child or a relative. people are desperate for someone to help them. However none of those things are reason to be vile. People should try very hard to be kind to other humans. That was a thing in COVID, be kind, but it seems to have worn off.

It's really unfair. You are doing an important job and don't deserve abuse.
I don't agree that it's because people are ill stressed or tired. Retail workers get a lot of abuse too. Even when I was a nursery nurse (which I thought would be better) parents would hurl verbal abuse at us daily.
So I think it's more that some people are just rude, entitled twats
But try not to let it get to you. A lot of us appreciate the help and support you give.

I agree that it’s very robotic.
I used it recently and I was told to ‘contact my GP as they have a duty of care to help me.’ I called my GP and the receptionist didn’t want to know despise me saying 111 had referred me there to be seen the same day. I was told to go to a&e or call back the next morning to see if any appointments were available.

Often with the NHS you spend more time chasing help than anything else. Add in pain and it’s a nightmare.

I think by the time they contact 111 they’ve probably already failed to get anywhere with their GP or dentist. They are probably stressed, in pain or in crisis.

I am. Having dealt with them on a regular basis I just don’t have patience to deal with them anymore

I agree! I’ve always felt they have been kind and caring. Of course you have to answer questions so they can help you!

Even when I ended up crying as I felt so weak and ill, they were so lovely to me. I’m sorry you get abuse, sadly it seems the norm nowadays

I agree with pp about stress and frustration and general rudeness. What I’d also say is that in some ways 111 ‘started it’ by making the process robotic. Obviously I know there are reasons for that but if you don’t let the call handlers behave in a natural human way (for example by skipping irrelevant questions) it is not surprising that callers don’t feel their humanity. Callers probably feel that although you are technically being polite, you are not treating them as humans either.

My DH can often get short and shirty with call centre workers. I keep saying to him, those people are human beings and whatever it is that you are frustrated about, it's not their fault.

I've worked with the general public all my working life. Various roles, and some people are absolutely vile. They see their stress being an excuse to abuse people. The company I work for just now has a cohort of very wealthy clients and this has been some of the very worst behaviour I've come across.
Stress, anger, whatever is no excuse to choose to abuse someone.

20 yrs working in A&E here....I feel your pain

In my experience the vast majority of people who are really unwell or desparately worried about their loved one are unfailingly polite. It's the ones who've had a hurty knee for the last 10 years and suddenly decide they want it sorted NOW because they' pay their taxes' who are abusive.

I've always found the people on 111 to be friendly and helpful although I think they are working in such difficult circumstances and so stretched at this time of year especially that people get frustrated by the long waits when they're feeling anxious and ill anyway. It's no excuse though.

People sometimes resort to 111 when they can't get a GP or dentist appointment and then get really stressed when they are told to... get a GP or dentist appointment - it's kind of going round in circles.

The frustration of waiting ages for your call to be answered followed by a long wait for someone to call you back is awful. You feel in limbo especially if you're trying to make choices for a child or confused elderly person.

I do always find it odd though when I'm asked if I'm the patient - yes and the next question is whether I'm conscious and breathing!! I think some of the more experienced handler just check yes for those as I'm not always asked.

Erm no, nope, that's really not how 111 operates.

You sound lovely.

Some of the issues listed by @outforawalkbiatch almost certainly relate to people being off their head on drugs.
And a general belief from TV cop shows that you trace someone's location by their phone number in about 20 seconds.
There are also a number of people who probably are not well in other ways. I suspect these disproportionally come into contact with emergency services.

The questions need yes no answers and sometimes it's not a yes no answer you have so it all gets very annoying.

But I wouldn't shout at them.

That's awful. I understand a bit of grumpiness but threats and name calling are never OK.

Some people are at breaking point when they call 111. They are terrified something is so wrong with their child or themselves and fear there's no capacity in the NHS to help. That's on top of normal worries like work etc..

Then you call and there seem to be 1000 questions.

So I understand in a way. However that's not the fault of the people working there. Thank God you do and I'm so impressed everytime I call 111.

I think you can empathise as you would with a kid. You sound upset and it must be so difficult. However you need to stop shouting

But there's no excuse if theyre rude beyond that.

This is complete crap. No we don’t.

there is no excuse but people are sometimes just at the end of their tether. Don't take it personal. They are not upset with you but with a completely dysfunctional system.

Yeah literally this. I think every member of the public should have to deal with stuff like this in some capacity even for just six months as some sort of national service. Our nation would be ever so polite after lol.