GPs warn new 111 NHS helpline is ‘seriously flawed’ and putting patients at risk

The Royal College of General Practitioners said patients had lost confidence in the 111 service, which was near ‘total collapse’ during the Easter holiday weekend.

Patients have been complaining about calls going unanswered and poor advice. As a result, hospitals have already been inundated with people with non-urgent conditions sent by unqualified call centre staff manning the new line.

The service was slated to start on April 1 – Easter Monday – but officials were forced to relax the deadline after it emerged that many local bodies charged with running the advice lines were woefully underprepared.

More than a month on, and a ‘patchwork quilt’ of services remains, according to RCGP Chair, Dr Clare Gerada, who is calling for ‘decisive action’.

The 111 system has replaced NHS Direct and local GP out-of-hours numbers. But the lines are manned by call centre staff with no medical training using a computer system that is liable to crash.

Earlier this week, a former Harrods dressmaker told how her husband died after NHS 111 call centre workers failed to recognise the urgency of his condition.

Barbara Foster called the controversial helpline after Reg, her husband of 33 years, developed severe abdominal pains.

But staff who took the call wrongly categorised his case as ‘not life-threatening’ and the ambulance took more than three hours to arrive.

‘The implementation of NHS 111 has been significantly problematic,’ said Dr Gerada. ‘Questions also need to be asked about why a completely new system was rolled out on Easter Bank Holiday at the same time as the NHS was getting to grips with the biggest ever top-down reorganisation in its history.

 Source The Mail