111 should be SHUT DOWN

[MrsMaisel]

Much as I hate to link the daily mail - here’s a horrifying look at the ‘training’ call handlers receive
never use 111

I've used 111 several times in Scotland and it has been great.

You talk to the call handler who gets a nurse to call you back, or the last time put the nurse straight on the phone. They then advise you what to do or make an OOH GP appointment for you.

The only time it was rubbish was when I had a dental abscess and they said I wasn't bad enough to be seen as my eye wasn't swollen shut. My dentist wasn't impressed when I told her.

We’ve found 111 to be very helpful and useful.

There will always be “horror stories” like there is with any service that involves potentially lifesaving decisions. I’m glad the 111 service is available.

I had to ring them a few weekends ago for a out of hours appointment, my 2yr old had chicken pox and a ear infection, they told me to give him ibuprofen, terrible advice for a child with chicken pox!

I wouldn't say if needs shutting down, but they need better training.

agree, useless. I only ring 111 when I need to see the OOH GP - not sure it's the same elsewhere but round here you can only get an appointment by going through 111

@Butterflycookie Where are suicidal people meant to access medical/ psychiatric care out of hours. I am bipolar and during my last bad episode was told to phone 111 to access the OOH psychiatric team if needed. I know they have psychiatric nurses on 111 in Scotland, I don't know about the rest of the country.

Only used them once in recent years and the service was excellent.

My lovely friend died thanks to 111. After the inquest, they changed some of their procedures.

I’ve got elderly parents and have used 111 a few times to access OOH healthcare of various sorts. I’ve always been pretty happy with the outcome.

In this area people tend to use 111 to help determine whether a trip to a&e is necessary. Our local a&e is dreadful - in special measures and hasn't had a positive outcome to any inspection since it opened. Unfortunately, all the other hospitals with an a&e department are far away as many were closed when our hospital opened and they decided to centralise 'care'. Last time I was in a&e was a couple of months ago when our baby dgs was unwell. We had to stand in a queue to be triaged - over an hour. Requests to the desk staff to allow us through to paediatric a&e were met with an outright refusal. Once triaged, we were then sent through to paediatric a&e where we waited another hour to be triaged there! So, as bad as our local 111 call centre is, if we could trust it, it could save a lot of time because I am sure many of the people at a&e on that occasion didn't need to be there. Trouble is, we cannot trust the 111 system so it actually doesn't help anyone either patients or a&e.

I have used 111 several times and have always been happy with the service. They rightly sent an ambulance out to my DH when we weren't sure if he needed one.