111 - has it reached capacity?

[CharChar91]

DD has a rash from head to toe, pin prick, faint but covering her face, neck, trunk, wrists and feet. Temperature which is coming down with calpol but otherwise seems pretty well in herself - cheeky, eating, drinking etc. Recently had tonsillitis. We think it could be Scarlett fever and DS now has tonsillitis diagnosed Friday night. Strep A is obviously making us a bit nervous.

We're trying to call 111 but keep getting cut off. She's 4 so we have to call rather than use the online service. We keep getting cut off after long periods on hold, the last time being 1 hour 15 mins.
I don't feel she's poorly enough for A&E presently but I think she needs to be seen at some point!
I know the NHS is under HUGE strain at the moment and this is not a bashing post and I appreciate there are others more ill than her, but what do we do? Just persist with 111? Try docs tomorrow? As long as she doesn't deteriorate or course.
I feel so bad for the NHS and it's wonderful workforce being under such strain.

Any out of hours doctors you could ring?

I’ve heard frequent tales recently of people not getting through. All you can do is go to an urgent care centre if there’s one near you or a&e if you think she’s unwell enough. Or wait for a gp appt tomorrow if you think she can wait. If you’re unsure err on the side of caution especially due to the strep A outbreak. Hope she’s better soon.

We had the same this morning/afternoon. Held for 1 hour 11 minutes had lessthan three minutes to go then heard beep, beep, beep and silence.
DD is home from Uni so is registered with a GP there not at home.
We tried online first and they called her back after 90 minutes and left a message saying to go to the GP tomorrow, she got worse so we called, got cut off and now we have tried online again.
she has a temp of 39.1 (ear measurment too) and is struggling to swallow as she has such sharp throat into ear pain.
IF we manage to get through to the GP tomorrow I'm not even sure they will see her.
Yes the system is broken and no there is no point calling back as it is likely to happen again.

@CharChar91 if the rash is non balancing (doesn’t disappear under a glass) you MIST get her to A&E immediately. My son gets them often but we were told whenever a child has a petechial rash and is unwell, you seek medical attention ASAP. Don’t hang about with 111

Our urgent care centre won't see you if you don't have an appointment, and the only way to get an appointment is via your GP or phoning 111!

All 111 services nationally are being hit with thousands of extra calls currently due to strep A. Despite drafting in extra staff they remain under huge pressure and your call is taking longer to be answered. Most mobile networks have a threshold and will cut off the call at around the 2hr mark or earlier.This has nothing to do with 111 and out of their control. I'd advise calling from a landline if possible

We were on a landline and at the 1 hr 11 minutes points with less than 3 minute ( allegedly!) to wait.

Disgraceful.

maybe try posting a pic on here and asking if any GPs are online

but don’t give up trying to get help in the meantime

I used to think the nhs was rubbish for minor ailments but thought at least in an emergency they’ll save your life - that is no longer gauranteed! The thing is a farce. They need a new model of healthcare

@Quitelikeit what do you expect them to do when thousands of extra calls are coming in? There are only so many call handlers to take a huge increase in calls. Parents are (understandably) panicking and using the service because they need reassurance. Our A&E has gone from having around 10 children waiting to treble that at any given time. Families are coming in because they are scared, not all of those children are unwell but again they are scared and ‘want to know’ if their kids have Strep A. All understandable but as usual people think they should magic more staff and because the service is struggling it’s disgraceful, like the staff can’t be bothered. I sure that’s not what is being implied but that’s the way it comes across. Everyone’s saying how crap it is but there are no solutions from the government other than to say there’s not shortage of antibiotics, which doesn’t seem to be accurate based on some of the posts on here.

We are absolutely at breaking point.

Today we had over 100 staff taking calls, and still 700 queueing to get through.

Strep A concerns putting a massive strain on the service, plus covid picking up, flu, the awful d&v bug going round plus all the normal ailments, and extra falls because it's so bloody slippy outside.

Of corse we are recruiting more, but those staff still have to be trained.