Being vile to 111

[111hell]

Can anyone shed light on why people are so awful to 111? It's a triage job to assist you in getting help. That's it, yes the questions may feel stupid but the tool rules out possible outcomes. I have never been spoken to the way I have working for 111. People are just vile. Honestly it's soul destroying

People don't cope with being stressed well.

I work as a vet and get abused day in and day out when trying to help people's animals.

I hope they provide you with counselling and coping mechanisms x

i work in retail and people are damn right rude and entitled. I’ve been abused by customers because a product is out of stock

I don’t know why

but FWIW I’ve had to call a few times for my elderly mum

It’s always been a good helpful person on the line and we certainly thank you for your work. I can see you do a great job in hard circumstances.

They are stressed and angry and don’t understand the point of the questions. They don’t think of you as a human being. You have my sympathy - it must be very hard.

People are just vile.

That’s it in a nutshell OP. You’ve answered your own question. People are just vile. Obviously not all, but a lot.

I will never work a customer facing or public facing role ever again. People are so entitled and think they have the right to speak to other humans like shit, just for doing their jobs.

I could write a book on all the experiences I was verbally abused, threatened etc whilst working in retail some years ago.

I’d expect people are vile to 111 call handlers due to desperation and frustration of; not able to get a doctors appointment and/or experiencing poor levels of health care. Which is in no way an excuse to speak to people like shit on the other end of the phone. They probably feel a bit braver being an arsehole over the phone rather than face to face.

It’s as if this country has just turned to absolute shit over the years. Especially since the pandemic. People are rude, obnoxious and entitled. So much road rage. So much hatred and political divisions. Crime. Cost of living is crippling people. NHS is hanging on by a thread. It’s such an awful way to live and a lot of people have developed a compete lack of empathy and community.

No advice. But solidarities.

People are scared or tired, people think you're asking stupid questions, people think you're treating them as though they're stupid, people think you're obstructing them, people think you're a hurdle to be got past as fast as possible before getting to the "real" help, people don't understand how the system works, people have already been passed around from pillar to post and they were already on their last nerve, people don't like being interacted with from a script and feel they're not being treated as an individual, people are frustrated by seemingly irrelevant lines of inquiry and assume you've got the wrong end of the stick and they won't get the right help, people are faceless and feel free to let loose, people know the consequences are minimal to nonexistent, people feel entitled to the service no matter their behaviour or feel entitled to a better one and think they can bully it out of you, and a significant percentage of people are just arseholes?

You're not alone. I work in a Police control room and the abuse we get at times when we call people back is ridiculous.

I couldn't be a call handler I take my hat off to anyone who is which ever organisation they're in

Agree that people are just generally shit.

We've also developed a culture with a super short attention span in recent years. Everyone wants to understand and have answers on things in seconds. They even want to skip the comprehending part. Just not possible.

I have used the service many times, some with quite long waits, but I have always been so happy with the care and kindness I have been shown.
What I find astounding is the number of times I have been apologised to for the wait, and also thanked for being so patient. I obviously really appreciate this, but it always makes me think that people like yourself OP, must honestly get some horrible people on the other end of the phone. You are doing your job, working under a lot of pressure with huge volumes of calls, and I can only only assume, doing your absolute best while following procedures.
I just wanted to say that I really value this service and have always been given the advice/care/treatment I have needed, and I hope those working in these roles know this.

I’d expect people are vile to 111 call handlers due to desperation and frustration of; not able to get a doctors appointment and/or experiencing poor levels of health care.

This. Scared, stressed, underserved people at the end of their tether. I can understand that. Doesn't make it right.

Working in a call centre for a luxury brand my life was threatened more than once. I've worked more civilised places like homeless shelters and prisons, where people don't do that.

I've put YAB just because the general public are basically shit. And really you should know that. It's not just 111 it's any public service job. I work in a similar job for the council dealing with calls from the public and I've had people literally scream obscenities down the phone at me 5 secs into a call.
I just remind myself I'm getting paid to deal with this and at the end of the shift I get to go back to my lovely home and family. Whereas these screaming members of the public are probably living quite hard and difficult lives... if not due to external circumstances then due to internal ones. Because no one that nasty is having a good time in my experience. They are in some type of pain.
I try to remember that.

I hate to say this - but the few times I’ve called NHS 111 has been like speaking to a computer bot. Zero warmth or compassion. Even during times of distress.

And yes people don’t react well when ill or in pain. There are a lot of people with mental health issues out there too. A call handler should be able to calm patients and help them as much as they can. No excuse for abuse though. Sorry it’s tough OP.

I have to say the algorithm response is maddening. I recently called about my baby and it was totally pointless as I couldn't get a sensible answer.

Do they not teach you anything about stress reactions and fight or flight in your training?

People are selfish and entitled. I used to get abuse when I worked in retail 30 years ago. Now I feel it’s ten times worse. You also have people now looking for a fight they can post on social media.

. A call handler should be able to calm patients and help them as much as they can.
The call handler would be amazingly skilled to calm some of the people who call 111.
I think many people think they'll still automatically get an ambulance into hospital and that's all they want.

It's not just 111. Almost every establishment you enter these days there's a sign saying they don't tolerate abuse of their staff. It really shouldn't be necessary, but people are awful. Even on Mumsnet you get posters saying nasty things to others who are looking for help and advice. Look at how often you see posts deleted because they've broken the talk guidelines.

I believe that the internet and social media has contributed to the overall situation as people have become emboldened by being keyboard warriors through anonymity and non-face-to-face contact. They then take this into their everyday lives and abuse receptionists/retail workers/nurses/call handlers/other drivers etc. I hate the way the world is going, and I dread what my two young adult DDs have to look forward to as they get older.

How awful for you OP. I'm not surprised as generally seems politeness and generally courtesy is rare these days. So many entitled and rude people around. Some PP here demonstrating that nicely.

Fwiw I've called 111 for myself and my DC numerous times and have always had a good service. Call handlers are not clinical and paid little over minimum wage, they are using a decision tree to triage you to the most appropriate service. Yes I'm unwell and distressed but that's on me, no point taking it out on the call handler.

I think that if you work in the public sector people feel they have a perfect right to be abusive. I worked in the public sector all my adult life and honestly, I could write a book about the vile comments, the anger, the sheer nastiness of customers. They would often start before I had said anything. I've been told that lying to us was OK, that they could treat me like dirt because they paid my wages, ( I used to ask them where they worked, often they weren't), that I had to do as they said for the same reason. Some people are very entitled, common courtesy doesn't count. Sorry you have such awful treatment.

Frustration and panic can make monsters out of people. I'm not condoning treating people badly though.

Often, by the time they ring, people will have already explained themselves to one GP, sometimes more or been unable to get an appointment at all. And then a seemingly never ending list of questions is often the straw that breaks the camel's back. But they take their frustrations out on the wrong person. The call handler is in no way shape or form responsible for the problems within the NHS.

This.

Another POV @111hell

Recently, I was almost in tears when I called NHS 111 and could not believe the call handler responded with "I don't know why you're being so upset". I explained that I was upset as I live alone, with no family support and had been trying to get gp treatment for a week! When I was eventually put through to the duty doctor I was asked to come in immediately for meds and also given a prescription for a further 14 day supply. It was not an A&E immediately life threatening situation but more a potentially life changing disease, if not treated at that point.

I have no complaints about the only other time I called 111 so was shocked by this call handler's attitude.

I agree that we shouldn't be aggressive to call handlers.

Usually people are highly stressed/anxious and worried when calling.

They don't understand why they have to answer so many questions and think the questions are delaying help.

Actually ignore my last comments. I was replying as if it was a 999 call.

Pain. And fear of dying.

Often immense frustration at the lack of appointments for a GP appointment and being forced to go via 111 when all you want is to not feel awful.

Long wait time for phone answering adds to the stress, anxiety and general worry.