NHS 111 - 12hrs wtaf!!!

[frenziednurse]

I’ve had paramedics out, I thought I was dying - rapid breathing and sweaty. I have a tooth abscess and have antibiotics but I’m in agony. Taken max amount of paracetamol and ibuprofen and a propanol for my anxiety. Paramedics safety netted me and offered to take me to hospital but as it’s a tooth infection rightly said I’d be waiting a long time in a+e. So advised I ring 111 for pain relief - call back time 12, yes TWELVE hours! What has this world come to! I have a little dd to be here for - and I feel like I’m dying a slow death!

Rant over!

I rang 111 a few weeks a go (had shingles, needed antivirals and it was a Sunday), they said they’d call back within 2 hours. 12 hours later I had a phone call and got seen for antivirals.

I hope that you are getting the help that you need op. I once had dreadful toothache. I phoned my dentist for an appointment only to be told that i couldn't get an appointment for 6 weeks. I phoned 111 as i was in agony despite taking strong pain killers i got from the pharmacy. I never got a callback. Luckily the next day was Monday. I went private after trying my nhs dentist again with no luck. If i had not have been able toafford a private dentist i would have gone to a and e. I was desperate. I didn't go private at first because the pain killers were easing it. Typically it got far worse on a sunday.

Ha ha ha. I've been on a hospital waiting list for a tricky removal since 2021.

Presumably you’ve had other treatment in that time because NHS waiting lists don’t allow people to go that long?

My nearest NHS dentist is 180 miles away. I was lucky to have a sympathetic female GP who gave me antibiotics for a finger abscess that didn’t exist, smiled and said the antibiotics might also help with the tooth that needed a root canal.

I waited from 2018 to 2023, so NHS waiting lists do allow this. No NHS dentist = possible sepsis.

You had paramedics out for a tooth abcess ,ffs is this for real,

Sepsis would be low BP and high pulse , so insure why everyone is screaming sepsis

I was referred to have a tricky wisdom tooth out, the hospital told me it was approximately a 3 year wait
I took out a loan and went privately in the end

No, they don’t

OK - I was advised I needed a root canal in 2018, put on a waiting list in 2018. By 2021 my NHS dentist was charging £85 for an antibiotics prescription. On New Year’s Eve 2022 I was seen by an emergency NHS dentist and prescribed antibiotics. In 2023 I took out a loan and paid privately for the root canal.

Have a good evening.

Umm...I don't know if the pain has confused you but a BP of 140/107 is in no way within normal limits. If you put your BP into the NHS blood pressure checker it tells you to call 999 or go to A&E if you are experiencing a fast heart rate alongside it. 110 is a high resting heart rate. 'Behaving a little weird' - is that code for feeling slightly confused? Your resp rate is 28??

Honestly, it doesn't matter what the origin of an infection is. It's the infection that matters. You are scoring at least a 4 on NEWS2 (as a nurse you'll know this) and 3 in a single parameter (resp rate) so if you'd been in hospital you'd be on hourly obs and a nurse would have talked to the medical team about you.

I think you're not taking this seriously enough.

That's not quite correct. Septic Shock has low BP but in the earlier stages of Sepsis (SIRS and Sepsis), BP can remain normal because the body compensates by elevating the heart rate to oxygenate the organs. It's once it's run out of capacity to compensate (septic shock) that the BP can't be maintained despite the elevated heart rate because the blood vessels get leaky.

SIRS or even sepsis won't necessarily become septic shock, but you don't want to be the one who waits and sees then realises it has. Just like if someone had neck stiffness and a dislike of the light, you're going to whack those antibiotics in, not wait to see if they develop a non blanching rash.

Absolutely agree, it’s actually a NEWS of 5. Many cases every year in ITU due to dental abcesses obstructing airways, causing pericarditis etc I agree with other posters that you are not taking it seriously enough. Also your BP is not normal as your diastolic is very high

How are you doing, OP?

Don't wait for 111, not fit for purpose in my experience! Get yourself to an Urgent Care Centre asap.

Nope. They are blaming a covid backlog. They've said it will be another 12 months or so.

You're an NHS nurse?

FFS no wonder the NHS is on its knees. You called an ambulance out for a tooth infection?
Yes, you need treatment, but use the correct service.
In the meantime, monitor your own obs' and if your NEWS2 score indicated possible sepsis then follow the correct pathway for that.

NEWS chart

She called it for rapid breathing and sweating, knowing she’s got a severe infection. She isn’t calling an ambulance for a toothache, she is clearly worried about the wider symptoms the tooth infection has caused.

While we know that not everything is sepsis, would you really want to be the person discouraging someone from getting prompt medical attention when it could be sepsis. Dick move.

So you go to urgent care and tell them you're worried about sepsis and why you're worried.

I’m still waiting for my callback from 111 for a rotten chesty cough. That was in April. I was treated for pneumonia in May.

I think if you’re bad enough to be seen by paramedics you should have accepted a trip up to the hospital. Better to be waiting there than writhing around in pain waiting for 111 surely. You’re a medical professional and you called an ambulance for yourself, but then sent them on their way to wait 12 hours on a phone call. It doesn’t make a lot of sense really.

Sepsis should be screened for if a single parameter scores 3, which the respiratory rate does. So @frenziednurse is quite justified to be worried and I think the paramedics have made a mistake here.

People don't make sense if they are acutely unwell. It's actually a hallmark of sepsis and non-septic severe infection. It's also a hallmark of unmanaged pain.

Not true