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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should I Complain? NHS 111

137 replies

Lilwelshyrs · 25/02/2015 23:19

I had a bit of a nasty fall off my horse yesterday. I hit my head, and skidded on my back. I honestly don't know exactly how I fell as no one saw it, but crucially, I was wearing a helmet, I didn't black out and there was no blood. I had to get up and get my horse - we were in a big field on our own.
I took the evening off of work and my DH was with me for the whole day.
This evening I went back to work and a few of my colleagues said I should probably go to A&E as I was complaining of a sore back and whip lash. As the end of work was only a few hours away and I managed to successfully commute into London, I figured I'd try NHS symptom checker. I would answer a few questions and then it would say the service was "currently unavailable".
So I thought, why not try 111?

I work in London but live in Sussex...
So I'm asked all the usual - home address, doc etc. Then the guy asked if I was safely at home to which I explained I was at work. He then asked me the usual questions - chest pain? No.
Hard of hearing? (Pardon?) No.
Loss of sight? No.
Then "have you had any neck pain?"... "Yes, and it's gotten worse since the fall".
He puts me on hold.
He asks me if my workplace is hard to access? I said no.
He puts me on hold.
He then comes back and tells me an "urgent ambulance" has been booked and is on its way...!

Eh?! What?! Why was I not asked? Am I about to be bundled into an ambulance like I'm some emergency case and then left in a London A&E which will have patients in far greater need of assistance than what I need?!
He never asked me about concussion or if I had blacked out upon impact of the fall, hadn't asked if I had felt nausous today and crucially hadn't asked if I was able to get myself to A&E (yet I had miraclously made it from Sussex to London without the need of assistance?!).
I thought 111 was to weedle out the non-emergency from the emergency? I felt he didn't ask me the right questions and I nearly wasted valuable ambulance services!

AIBU? Should I complain? Has anyone had this happen to them?!

FYI I am on the way to my local hospital which should be much quieter and will be assessed quickly with my DH in tow.

OP posts:
kitchentableagain · 25/02/2015 23:49

I would wait until you've been seen.

Because if you complain that they tried to send an ambulance and you HAVE IN FACT broken your neck then you will look a tit.

How is your helmet? I once fell off, landed against a fencepost (one of those round telegraph pole size ones that's every 5th space to keep the wire fencelines more stable) on my head and right arm (my right arm/shoulder is wrecked, I must've fallen off onto it 99% of the time). Went to hospital with a somewhat broken (it was cracked and chipped but not broken right through) arm (and yeah I got back on and rode for 15 minutes before the increasing throbbing made me think again and go off to a&e). While there the doctor took the silk off my skullcap (wandered in still clutching it) and there was a huge depressed fracture in the outer shell. So thank goodness I was wearing it or I might be dead.

kitchentableagain · 25/02/2015 23:50

^^ Christ. Too many brackets? Time for bed.

LaurieFairyCake · 25/02/2015 23:51

Hope you're ok Smile

Froggio · 25/02/2015 23:55

So you figured you'd try the NHS symptom checker and the try NHS 111. What were you after exactly? It could be an emergency, I hope not but they can only do so much over the phone. I think you should have gone to A&E and they basically told you that. What exactly would you be complaining about?

BigCatFace · 26/02/2015 00:03

Good luck at hospital, hope you get x-rated ;)

Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 00:03

No one is in a rush at this hospital! Sat in waiting room with 2 hours at least... Clearly not as worrying then eh?!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 00:04

Haha, gotta love being x rated Grin

OP posts:
Whereisegg · 26/02/2015 00:08

My dh broke his neck when a lot younger and didn't notice.
Really hope you're ok!
You will replace your helmet won't you? Grin

Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 00:09

Helmet is fine, I lost the hat silk though. Luckily my birthday is coming up so can ask for another hat.
One of the answers I came to eventually on the symptom checker was to self medicate and not go to a&e. I thought perhaps talking to a person might help...

OP posts:
Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 00:10

This helmet didn't last one year! Damnit! Grin

OP posts:
Froggio · 26/02/2015 00:26

No-one is in rush in this hospital? No, I wouldn't say that. Perhaps there are more urgent cases than yours at this present time. You're currently breathing and conscious, not bleeding profusely, so you may need to just wait your turn. It's boring but that's the system and if you want immediate attention from a medically qualified doctor this is what you have to put up with.

bayrans · 26/02/2015 00:39

111 do have qualified, medically trained professionals overseeing the calls. Several of my former colleagues in the Ambulance service trust I work for are now (languishing) at 111.
You were triaged correctly. The potential for a significant injury is there, despite you going about your day to day business. Admittedly it sounds like the call taker could've been a little more informative.

Still, you're at the ED now, could've been a little earlier....... Wink

missingmumxox · 26/02/2015 01:03

NHS dammed if they do, dammed if they don't, you sound normal OP to be fair but it could be a neck injury.
Years ago when I was a student a man was found leaning against our A and E door, drunk as a skunk, imagine that picture, anyway it was past two o'clock and we where closed, a porter found him, phoned ambulance turned out he had been attacked walked approximately 3 miles before getting to us.

He had an unstable fracture of his atlas and delta, he should not have been alive

EstRusMum · 26/02/2015 01:16

Odd NHS Direct is NHS 111 now. I know it because I worked for them both. I was unlucky enough to work during the transition. And I can assure you - people answering the call and triaging public have no medical training. Only nurses do. And as for difference in the service - the triage program is much-much-much better now than it was with NHSD
OP, you should complain. Just so practice would improve. The guy won't get sacked (I doubt that someone's complaint could get one person sacked, as it's too expensive to get new person trained, so don't believe someone who said they got someone sacked from thereHmm), he will just be disciplined. Maybe sent to unpaid leave until the investigation is on or retrained to be better.
Anyway, to improve the service you should complain. But also - if you will receive a good service from them one day, you could call them to leave a good comment too. It does make them feel better. Wink

passthewineplz · 26/02/2015 01:35

Hope you're ok, however I do feel UABU! the call handler was doing his job and working to a script which suggested you needed urgent medical help.

IMO you can't be too careful when it comes to your own health

Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 04:27

Out of A&E now... All is fine.

My issue is the fact I wanted advice and instead of advice I was put on hold and told I was getting an ambulance! When I explained that I could not get an ambulance at this very moment, he put me on hold again for a good 10minutes, by which point I had to go back to work.
Anyone heard of the saying "the show must go on"? Well that had to happen and if I had survived the day and commute and one show on a two show day, I was going to survive another hour. My role this week was physically undemanding so I felt comfortable in my assessment despite the panic from the 111 guy.
Plus living in Sussex, if I had gone to a London hospital, Id be leaving there right now with nowhere to go.

My point about no one being in a rush to see me wasn't a gripe at waiting times in A&Es, I totally understand and am fully aware that there are people who are in more dire need than me. My point was that there was no need for an urgent ambulance to be sent to my work place without discussing it with me first. And my point also being that even if I HAD got in that ambulance and rushed to A&E, I would be sat in a waiting room for 4 hours as I wasnt a priority case - which is fine!
But there was no point in being stranded in London in the middle of the night for something that could wait a couple of extra hours.
The bloke didn't ask the right questions and jumped the gun.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 04:30

Plus this urgent ambulance would have been totally wasted on me if the guy had actually listened and asked the right questions instead of putting me on hold for ages...

OP posts:
Original poster
Lilwelshyrs · 26/02/2015 04:31

Oops, I meant to say wasted on me and someone else might have actually needed it instead...
Anyway, pain killers popped and sleep!

OP posts:
Madamecastafiore · 26/02/2015 05:35

Delayed concussion or broken neck. Wtf do you,want to complain about? Was it a helicopter you wanted?

startwig1982 · 26/02/2015 05:40

For goodness sake, he was worried about a neck injury. Fortunately you're fine.
No need to complain about it.

Madamecastafiore · 26/02/2015 05:41

If you went in as an emergency by ambulance you wouldn't have to sit and wait around with a suspected neck injury, you are waiting around because you,walked in.

NCIS · 26/02/2015 05:44

111 doesn't have a choice as to which questions to ask, loss of hearing is a cranial nerve test so would be appropriate with a potential head/spinal injury and you said you had neck pain which was getting worse, words which would have triggered an ambulance call out as you may have needed immobilising.

Also you wouldn't have been 'bundled' into an ambulance, you can refuse any treatment providing you have capacity, which you obviously do even if that decision is unwise.

Complaining would be pointless as your treatment was fundamentally correct.

NCIS · 26/02/2015 05:45

Going in by ambulance wouldn't make your treatment any quicker.

Itsgoingtoreindeer · 26/02/2015 05:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cornettoninja · 26/02/2015 06:03

I think you could complain about 111 in general but I don't think it's fair to blame the guy.

He had a very short dialogue with you and you triggered an ambulance with one of those questions that is probably nothing but has the potential to be something major. It's not his fault and he can't take extenuating circumstances into account. He can only go by the clinical facts. In all honesty I bet he would prefer a complaint about an over reaction rather than a complaint about a missed broken neck. That's how they're work - it will always be on the side of caution since no one can examine you by phone.

Fwiw, although 111/nhs direct has it's place, nothing can compare to a physical appointment. You're much better off finding a walk-in centre if you can or turning up at a&e for physical injuries.

No one can tell you over the phone whether you are seriously injured or not.