AIBU about 111

[blvdbrokendreams]

I contacted 111 today about my 8 month old daughter. She has suffered recurrent croup and I believe she has croup again. She has a high pitched cry, coughing, wheezing and a temperature. I do not believe its covid due to the instances of croup but I have no objection to getting her tested.

When she started showing croup symptoms on the 1/05/2021 I monitored her but as it got worse I decided to ring 111. This was at 12:30 pm. The advisor I spoke to said that that a gp would be in touch within an hour as she is a baby. I waited for over 4 hours and then rang 111 back at 17:02. I repeated that I was waiting for a gp to call me and it had been over 4 hours. At 17:52 the gp called me and we decided that it was best for my daughter to see a gp. He stated that someone would call me ASAP to arrange this appointment. I waited again for over an hour before ringing 111 again at 19:00 hours to enquire when this would be happening. They didn't know but would get in touch with the surgery.

They finally called me at 19:46 to give me an appointment which wouldn't be until 05:30 am on the 03/05/2021. I am left with absolutely no option but to go down to a and e which I am reluctant to do. But cannot wait another 9 hours for my daughter to be seen. I am appalled at the communication and the service provided today for a child under 1.

Am I expecting too much? I dont drive so couldn't get there at that time and I certainly wouldn't want to wake her up at 4 am to get her ready. So I Am getting ready for a and e

I guess the point is that they have assessed your baby as not an emergency. Unfortunately the NHS is understaffed and underfunded. You might not think so but actually it's pretty good to get an appointment as soon as tomorrow at 5.30am. If she wasn't a baby you would most likely be waiting much longer. If you (as the person who is physically with her who knows her best) thinks your DD needs seeing more urgently then you do have the option you mention of taking her to A&E.

I agree this is not ideal, but sounds "normal" within the parameters of how the health service is operating at the moment.

I find 111 a really weird system. Where I'm from we have an out of hours gp service where you ring up , a nurse calls you back to triage you and you are given an appointment if needed. The centres are usually within a half hour drive and a gp will come to your home if its urgent and you have no transport. Its staffed by local gps and the wait times aren't usually very long. I have no idea how a medically untrained operator can assess your medical need. I've a number of rare conditions and I've found it pointless to call 111 the few times I've called.

Mmmm. It's not ideal, given the tendency of croup to get worse in the night. But yes, underfund the NHS for years, and this is what you get...

Not sure whether this is helpful but my youngest son suffered from croup and sitting with them upright in a steamy room really helps

Call them back and talk it through with the GP again.

Oh bless her.
A&E will be best for her to be seen now and I hope she is on the mend soon x

I think 111 is a bit hit and miss depending on where you live. I once had to call 111 for croup and the call handler heard his breathing as he was next to me and sent an urgent ambulance. I wanted a gp appointment. A&E were great and sorted it really quick so I would just go to a&e
Hope you get sorted soon

111 failed terribly when I contacted them recently.

Thankfully I went with my gut instinct and took myself to a&e. The people treating me were horrified that 111 hadn't sent me there with the symptoms I had described.

Yes go to a and e they can give her steroids x good luck

Sounds to me like 111 got it right, unless I’m not reading your post correctly. They assessed your daughter as requiring a 1 hour outcome which is the fastest and requested that. It sounds like the out of hours GP/clinician phoned you later than they should have. They then failed to arrange a timeous appointment, so the whole journey took longer than was ideal.

I don’t know if you are in Scotland or England, but I work with the Scottish 111 service and we assess over the phone, then request a particular patient outcome depending on the information gained from the assessment and send that to out of hours. Since Covid, the out of hours centres have changed their process a bit where they no longer automatically arrange a face to face appointment if we request one, they may opt for a phone or video consult instead if they feel it’s appropriate. They (the clinicians) make the decision, not 111 operators.

I do hope your have now managed to get your daughter seen.

I agree, go to A&E, trust your instincts. I contacted 111 the other day and knew the call back within 24hrs wasn’t the right decision and told the call handler I wanted recorded on the notes that I disagree with the decision and if I hadn’t been contacted within 4 hrs I would call again. A GP called me shortly after and agreed my son needed a continuation of the antibiotics he had just finished. If you’re not happy go to A&E. Especially with a young baby.

I am not criticising the 111 service though, as over the years I have found the service to be very efficient, but it is a telephone assessment using an and as with any health care provider, sometimes as a parent you know when you need to be seen.

Go to A&E so they’ll give her a dose of steroids. If you haven’t already then get a warm mist humidifier for night times when she’s suffering.

I use 111 a lot but they don't always get it right if you believe she needs to be seen get her seen. 111 once fobbed me off about DH and he nearly died of pneumonia/sepsis
Don't get me wrong 111 have been very helpful in the past but we have to trust our own Instincts, someone over the phone can only do so much
8 month old I'd definitely get them seen tonight
Best case she's fine and you're put at ease
And if not you'll be in the right place

Go to A&E. I don’t have kids but judging by my own experiences with 111 I wouldn’t trust them at all. I’d never ring 111 now. For a baby or a child you need hospital