Will my 111 call ever be answered?

[Minimalme]

Been listening to the crackly music and intermittent message saying 111 are busy for 40 minutes now.

Are the strikes affecting this service?

DS is poorly with a bad cough and temperature (3rd day). He has Type 1 Diabetes (since he was 4 so we are well practised in this) but we are not sure if he maybe has a chest infection and I'd like some advice.

I could ring the paediatric diabetes out of hours service or take him to A&E (I know the latter is a shit idea).

I don't know if my call will ever be answered - should I give up or hang on?

I'd hang on. It's going to be even more inundated with slips and falls than usual x

It's not the strikes. It's the deluge of patients and ongoing short staffing and underfunding. Hope you get through soon.

Thanks - that's helpful to know it's not the strikes but just expected wait times given the time of year.

I am 55mins in to now - anyone know have a rough idea of how long it could be.

DS8 is listening to inane YouTube videos sat next to me and my ears are beginning to shrink back into my head for respite.

Recently ours was 2.5 hours. DH hung up by accident at 2 hours the first time and we had to do it again.
Anything from 1-3 hours is normal and then 12+ hours for a call back so personally I’d call the diabetes service.

Hi I was waiting around an hour yesterday. Spoke to someone around 3pm yesterday and received a phone call back at 9am this morning.

52 minutes I waited a couple of evenings ago. Stay with it.

Is it possible to ring your local pharmacy? Ask to speak to the pharmacist they will likely be more helpful than 111.

I called for my daughter in the morning and it took about 55 mins, so I'd say hang on! Hopefully it won't be too much longer. Hope your son is okay too xx

How is a pharmacist useful with a child with diabetes, a temp and a possible chest infection requiring a PRESCRIPTION.

Does it say where you are in the queue? The other day when I called I was position 40 in the queue. Took me about 1 hour to get through.

@Shejustwentthere

Well some pharmacist's are independent prescribers now so are able to prescribe for these types of things. Or they may know a pharmacy in the area able to do so. Also the OP said she wasn't sure if it was a chest infection. The pharmacist will almost certainly able to help advise on this, even the pharmacy staff as they are trained when to refer people to OOH/GP when displaying certain symptoms.

Perfect for advice - which is what the OP asked for. Often much quicker than waiting hours for a call back.

Please show me where a pharmacist can prescribe for a child with diabetes?

I want to see the actual link to that piece of nonsense?

My dh was put on hold yesterday by 999. A lady fell outside of our house. She couldn't get up and couldn't speak English so could not tell anyone how badly hurt she thought she was. When dh got through he was told it was a 7 hour wait for an ambulance.

We got her an uber to a and e. Some neighbours helped pick the lady up (agreed that 7 hours wait lying on ice was a worse risk than moving her). I hope she was alright 😒

@Shejustwentthere

Pharmacist's have been able to become independent prescribers for some time. However anyone training as a pharmacist from this year will automatically become an independent prescriber as part of their university degree. There is also a huge push from health boards for this to happen. Soon I'd imagine that it will be the first port of call for acute infections.

I'd say Pharmacist's are pretty clued up on medication and may even be more knowledgeable than a GP in terms of medication interactions and how the antibiotics may affect someone with diabetes. I'm not sure why you find it so surprising.

I've found a link from the GPHC with a bit of detail regarding pharmacist's prescribing. There's isn't exact information on children with diabetes. But the pharmacist I work with would certainly be comfortable prescribing for someone with diabetes.

www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/pharmacist-independent-prescriber

Why are people so rude on this forum!

www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/pharmacist-independent-prescriber

I'm not sure why people dont do this anyway. Everyone knows it's very long waits for ambulances.

In your situation I'd be tempted to try the paediatric diabetes team. They may or may not be quicker but you might not get passed around so much.

It took us an hour to get through early this morning, triage call was 4.5 hours later and I've been waiting 3 hours so far for the OOH appointment to be arranged. It's a very worrying wait but they have been sending regular texts to say we're still in the queue and haven't been forgotten.

@Shejustwentthere proving she knows fuck all about this.

certainly independent prescribing pharmacists can prescribe for a child with diabetes! And most pharmacists know far more about medicines than many doctors. It’s literally their job, after all.

The diabetes service won’t be able to assess for a chest infection or prescribe anything for it. They will only be able to offer advice of blood glucose levels are affected etc

I'd call the diabetes team. That's what they're there for.
How's his BG? Any ketones?

Thank you - I am very totally at 2.5 hours.

I have called the diabetes out of hours service and the nurse has been very helpful.

Sometimes I just need someone knowledgeable to remind me of what to do.

Have checked ds ketones and they are fine, blood glucose is high but his temp has come down with paracetamol.

If his ketones climb or his chest gets worse I will call the paediatric ward and see if they'll see him directly. Or failing that take him to A&E (very worst case scenario).

Thanks for your help!

In Scotland pharmacies operate a minor ailments service and can prescribe for some things directly. You're often signposted there for cough and cold type things.

Are you able to request a call via the 111 service online? You then just wait for them to call you back instead of sitting on the phone all this time.

1 hour last weekend. Got cut off.