On Saturday afternoon I reported a dental problem to NHS 111 the outcome which should be a further supply of antibiotics which had been prescribed by my dentist, since the course had finished but my problem had not been cleared up. Six hours later I received a follow up from a clinician who took all the details and advised I would receive a call back from a GP within 2 hours. It is now 16 hours and counting and I still have not had the GP call back. I have chased it up 3 times and gave up on the 4th attempt since I had been waiting to talk to an advisor for over 20mins. All have been told is its the weekend and we are busy. What more can I add except to say this is worse than when I used 111 about 4 years ago and even then it was an appalling service. And weekends occur every week so are not unexpected so why not resource accordingly?
NHS 111 - A No Star Service - British Heart Fou...
NHS 111 - A No Star Service
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Might it be worth going to your dental dept at your local hospital? I would imagine they would take your request for penicellin seriously and prescribe.
Thanks for your reply. I am one of the fortunate few who still has an NHS dentist and am more than satisfied with the service they provide. However I naively hoped NHS 111 would be able to sort me out over the weekend, but it now looks certain that I will have to make another emergency appointment with my dentist tomorrow (who, incidently, were able to very quickly accommodate me first time around).
How would they have sorted you out over the weekend?
The whole point of my post was to highlight how poor the NHS 111 service has become.
However to answer your question all I want is a follow up prescription. The clinician I spoke to was not authorised to issue one ; that can only be from a GP. Meanwhile I'm still waiting for my GP call back and the Sunday chemist has now closed.
Your dentist is the best course of action.
Of course it's down to the NHS111 service if one of their GPs (employed by them) doesn't ring me back in a reasonably timely manner. How can it be otherwise? I have now had four advisors apologise for them not ringing, which overall counts for nothing really.
And I might have an 'out of hours service' in my area and I might have an emergency dentist. But a) I used the NHS 111 service which is what its there for, and b) I have no need to see the emergency dentist, if I had needed to see one I would have considered that option and not used NHS 111.
How do you know what my actual requirements are, and how urgent they are? I have only given an outline.
I have used the NHS 111 service as it is intended to be used. It's a non emergency service.
Do you believe I use NHS services because I have nothing better to do, and when I do so I feel the need to be given preferential treatment? If so you are sadly misguided
My conclusion is you clearly have no knowledge of how the NHS 111 service operates or you would not be making the comments you have made.
And I sincerely hope that if you find you have a need to use NHS 111 it serves you better than it has served me both recently and in the past and judging by most of the review comments elsewhere many other people too.
I was agreeing with you until I read this -
Get medical help
111 online can tell you:
where to get help for your symptoms, if you're not sure what to do
how to find general health information and advice
where to get an emergency supply of your prescribed medicine
how to get a repeat prescription'
It surprised me as it was the last place I would go.
What I don't understand is if you didn't feel you had enough medication on the Friday for the weekend, why you didn't try to speak to the dentist then?
I can’t thank 111 enough. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here today. They were absolutely brilliant. The operator insisted on getting me an ambulance when I only thought I had very bad indigestion . Forever grateful 😁
OK.
My long awaited GP call finally happened earlier. And after an amicable and intelligent conversation with the GP I have an outcome which I have accepted under the circumstances.
But for your information I asked the question ' Was I right to contact NHS 111 given my situation and requirements?' and 'Would you have been able to issue me with a prescription had you responded earlier?' the answer I received was 'Yes' in both cases.
With you working for the NHS I am not going to disagree, however the online guidance should be clearer, for the likes of me antibiotics are a prescribed medicine!
(However as I said I wouldn't leave it till the weekend and thought I needed more).
I think you need to lighten up a little.
Telling people 'I am amazed at your attitude.' and they have an 'entitled attitude' borders on being rude in my opinion, not that I care very much.
I am a little lost how this has to do with a heart problem?
The relevance of the performance of the NHS 111 service to the heart and to this forum is that occasional advice given to some who post on here is to consult with NHS 111 on non emergency heart issues where access to a GP is not available. If my experiences and indeed that of many others reported elsewhere when dealing with NHS 111 are anything to go by then that advice is questionable. In future I certainly won't be suggesting people contact NHS 111 on non urgent issues.
What? You are talking about the NHS 111 service with regard antibiotics for a dental problem. Am I missing a part where you mention the call was in relation to a heart problem?
To be clear. My post was about the poor performance of the NHS 111 service in dealing with a non urgent situation, a service it is intended to fulfill. The clue to that is in the subject title. Why I was using it was of secondary importance, although some on here seemed to have homed in on that, believing I was misusing the service, although I was assured by people in the 111 service I wasn't, and surely if I had gone to the wrong place they would have told me.
Anyway if people can come on this forum and post quizzes, updates on sporting activities, jokes, updates on pets, etc etc and no one seems to mind, a post about a subject that may affect an individual who has a non urgent medical condition, would in my opinion be far more relevant as to why we are all here, heart condition or otherwise.
Maybe if it were a more serious call regarding heart issues there would be a very different result.
IMHO you did NOT have an urgent requirement so I still don't know how this relates to heart issues.
Yes people use this forum for more frivolous posts but as they say, laughter is the best medicine, where I see your post was made solely to have a moan against NHS 111 as they didn't respond as you expected.
I have to admit I saw where this was going when you made THIS statement ' the outcome which should be a further supply of antibiotics' you had already decided what you thought should happen.
Anyway I am not the post police and was just stating my opinion.
Many people have justifiable complaint against the NHS (NOT ME) but not sure this is one and I wouldn't want new readers to be concerned about calling 111 as many have had positive experiences.
I have to admit I saw where this was going when you made THIS statement ' the outcome which should be a further supply of antibiotics' you had already decided what you thought should happen.
You are absolutely correct in my expectation. I thought, and still believe, that is what the NHS 111 service is for. And further to that when I finally did get my GP call some 25 hours on from my initial report I was told that I could have a prescription, but by then all the chemists had closed, so I declined, the most expedient action then being to wait to see my NHS dentist which I have now done.
Then I am even more confused, they actually did as expected but just not as quickly as you wanted, I expect they had more serious cases than yours.
Again not sure how you can compare a call to 111 regarding a possible heart issue with a call about wanting antibiotics for a tooth issue.
Can you not see that?
The NHS 111 service is the second tier down from the 999 service as I am sure you are well aware. Its aim is to help people with conditions that are not an emergency. Repeat prescriptions are included in their service, which is why I used it. The service they provide is global covering all health conditions. It matters not whether it's heart related or not.
And no doubt the reason my call back took 25 hours, by then too late, was more than likely because I was judged to be less important than others. I accept that. What I do find to be poor however is the length of time to deal with me, and perhaps others using the service for which it is intended. They know its the weekend so when calls are likely increased so why not resource accordingly. It not like its something thats suddenly arisen is it?
Anyway why do we all have to accept that if an NHS service is poor we are not allowed to call it out for what it is. The NHS gets £150bn each year from taxpayers and some services are first class, like my NHS dentist for example but other areas are, in my experience poor, like 111, borne out by the three occasions when I have had to use it.
And finally my advice to anyone believing they have a possible serious heart related problem should not be talking to 111, it should be 999 or visiting A&E.
If that was your purpose then you have failed with me and as far as I am concerned the NHS 111 has done its job.
As someone who has had a heart bypass, a stroke and 2 drilled stents as well as living with diabetes, I really don't get your upset over the overworked and underfunded NHS didn't come through with your antibiotics for a dental problem.
If you don't see this for what it is I won't waste my time anymore.
Hopefully you got a prescription today, thank goodness it wasn't a BH!!
I pondered your question, and then realised the connection for me, as a heart patient.We all know the NHS is under severe pressure, especially staff shortages, and many of us have adjusted our demands, where we can.
The caller here took up quite some time from 111 staff, mentioning at least 4 advisors and a GP who could have used that time to take more urgent calls (possibly mine, when I waited a long time for a reply)
I was later admitted via ambulance with unstable angina and query heart attack.
Quite agree with you
I phoned my GP when my angina started again, he advised me to go to the hospital, I too was diagnosed with unstable angina which eventually resulted in 2 stents to add to my my bypass.
I have only phoned 111 on one occasion and that was after getting up forgetting the fridge door was open and banging my head. I found they were were very helpful and after discussing any signs and symptoms I got on with my day.
The NHS is all about protocols. The only problem with that, is that the patients don’t work in the NHS so we have no idea how they work or even why they are required. The NHS is a truly brilliant institution but it is tarnished. We have been being warned about its quiet privatisation for many years and it seems this is actually where we are now. It feels like 111 was set up without proper heed to what it was required to do and left alone to develop without real oversight. All these walk in centres etc are a good idea but they are beginning to replace any possible relationship with your GP. That service is now disappearing. I think it can still be brilliant in a real emergency but it’s losing its ‘joined up’ capability. I too worked in the NHS many years ago and even then the ‘waste of resources’ was unbelievable. I see no change there. It could do better. Maybe people who now work in the NHS are too busy working to see how poor the service is becoming. No overview. One of my pet hates is people being discharged from hospital, sometimes prematurely, without proper instructions as to after care. This is after sometimes tens of thousands of pounds of treatment. I can’t apologise here for my comments because I think they are true and ‘we’ are allowing something truly special to deteriorate right in front of our eyes.
I've phoned 111 three times in the last 15 months when I've felt unwell, all I can say is that they were absolutely amazing, they answered the phone quickly and they were very proffesional. On all three occasions an ambulance was dispatched and the paramedics were superb.
On one occasion I'd had a heart attack, on another they thought I was having one and was blue lighted to the hospital.
If your case is urgent my experience tells me that they are well up to the job.
I didn't realise that this was Trip Advisor for the NHS.
Have a great day everyone
My advice from NHS 111 when I rang up with unexpected chest pains four years ago was to go to a drop in centre to which I then drove to. At the drop in centre I was then told to go to the major hospital in the area to which I drove again. Turns out I had had a heart attack and then had five days in hospital. Your experience clearly different to mine.
When I had my first attack of AF, not knowing what it was, I called 111 for advice and had an ambulance at my door in about 20 minutes.
Quite agree with everything you have said. Shocking attitude. Shocking attitude. I feel so sorry for doctors and nurses they get called all sorts of things by "patients". I think it must make a lot of them give up in the end.
I have to agree with you and how you feel about 111. The only time I called them they were useless. As an ex-nurse I knew I didn't need an ambulance, but effective pain relief, considerably more than Paracetamol. I don't remember how long I waited for a doctor to call me back, but it was several hours. He sent me 3 2mgm tablets of Valium and the advice that they would help me to sleep and I would feel much better in the morning. I won't bore you with the rest of it, but a chiropractor solved my problem by visiting me at home on Christmas Eve and for several days afterwards until I was able to visit her clinic. Needless to say, I have kept in touch with her and when it happened again I called her, not 111.My daughter also found 111 useless when she consulted them about one of her children and ended up at A & E in the middle of the night.
Sorry for jumping on your thread but 999 let us down too. 8 minutes to answer the call then a further 40 minutes to arrive all while my husband lay on the floor in agony having a heart attack. Not good 
At least you got an ambulance! My grandson collapsed at work with what his colleagues thought was a heart attack so they dialled 999 only to be told there was no ambulance available. My son picked him up himself and took him to A & E where he was examined and told it was not a HA but needed investigation. These are ongoing at the moment. I'm not blaming the ambulance service; it is not their fault. I've seen 11 ambulances queueing outside my local A & E because the dept. is clogged up with patients for whom there are no beds available in the hospital. The NHS as a whole is in desperate need of sorting out.
You answer with an air of arrogance...I'm not being rude, just saying how you're behaving 🤔
That's really nice to read...I read this thread and just felt it got out of control with criticism from different angles. Most of us post to 'sound off', especially when in pain.. thats not to say I disagree with some points you made. Just felt it all got a bit 'judgementallish'
No sorry your experience doesn’t tar them all I was giving some antibiotics and turned out I was allergic to them. I was blacking out constantly and somehow called 111 somehow they managed to understand me and a ambulance was at my door blue light me to hospital. I can’t praise them either. I spent 3 days in hospital. It was all due to the quick response from 111. If you have a dentist why didn’t you ring their out of service number. Feel sorry for them if you rang them with the way your coming across on here.
Well I can assure you there is no need to feel sorry for anyone I have dealt with at NHS 111 or indeed any other service I deal with. I try to deal with the people fronting these organisations with the dignity they deserve. Its not their immediate fault that the service they represent may not be up to standard. And I am certainly not rude to them as some keyboard warriors on here believe they can be, or feel the need to openly question my integrity.
Does this mean every time I run out of viagra I can ring them x
I too have had mixed experience with 111. Great a few years ago when the GP diagnosed something serious and got me into hospital which literally saved my life -- but only just thanks to the poor initial performance of the hospital but that's another story. Much less good more recently when I was pretty ill with covid and was given the most extraordinary run around by 111 who asked a vast list of , clearly scripted and largely irrelevant questions time and time again including could I be pregnant. My age, reported of course at the outset, is 79!!! I think the service like so much else in the NHS varies a lot according to area.
'In this case ‘I’ don’t feel it is'
You say yourself there it is your pov...yes we're all entitled to an opinion however I felt it unfair to say someone had an entitled attitude because at that point it becomes personal to that person. The rest of it I agree with. The NHS have saved mine, my daughters and my brothers (3 heat attacks) lives...mine more recently with Covid (that was a 111 call) and I think they're wonderful considering what they're up against! As uzininemm stated, 111 will help with
'where to get an emergency supply of your prescribed medicine
how to get a repeat prescription'
I personally wouldn't have bothered them for this reason and have been in situations like this before. Comments became personal
What sort of Clown would Run Out of Viagra they must be classed as an Urgent Medication how would you let yourself Run Out.
Call 111 it is an Emergency in fact call 999 and get the Police to deliver a supply before she goes off the idea !!!!
Regards
Ooh sorry if I touched a nerve
I am afraid what happened to you is the new normal service. I really believe we all need to reassess our expectations of what the NHS can deliver currently. The administration of the service is appalling it has grown and grown and efficiency has gone down and now further down !! That is the normal for any Business that is Overstaffed which Admin and Management of the NHS seems to be.
Just ask yourself why no other country in the World has an NHS,
I think you will find the answer is that it doesn't Work it did in 1948 but 2022 is a totally different kettle of fish.
Regards
I love the way it’s always the administrators that pick up the criticism. In hospitals I found the main problem was the Medical Directors (a senior doctor usually whose ‘turn’ it was to hold the responsibility for the operational duties of the department). They did not want ‘admin’ staff in any shape or form, managers or support staff. They just had no idea how to use them and they certainly did not want anybody else - doctor or administrator - to tell them differently. They had no idea how to speak to people. They just expected to be obeyed. They were terrible about ‘losing face’ even although they made the most uproarious mistakes and mostly people just kept their mouths shut. Teamwork was an anathema. Junior doctors were terrified to step out of line. Much of it I am sure remains to this day. Off course we can’t tar everyone with the same brush but it is the sort of atmosphere where everyone generally toes the line and does not question anything. It means managers and admin support can’t do their jobs properly.
That reminded me of Sir Lancelot Spratt!
Your dental practice should have an emergency out of hours number to call. Might have been more appropriate than111?
NHS 111 does have a dedicated dental service. When you phone 111 you get an automated message asking if it's dental you require & if it is you go through to the dental department, which is completely different to the medical department.
I didn't want a dentist I had already seen one. I wanted a further prescription to the one my dentist had issued earlier . If I had wanted a dentist I would have not used 111.
I was just pointing out that NHS 111 has a dental service!! Whether or not you would want to use this service is your choice!
My husband called 111 for me last December and I never got a call back and I’d a femoral hernia!
Mmm this seems very judgmental. Yeah I checked your bio too. FYI I’ve taken seriously exercise for over 20 years as my mother suffered rheumatoid arthritis in every bone of her body. I’ve had two very large babies, also had an inguinal hernia on the same side and unlike men, we women have a different abdominal muscle structure. There is a weakness due to becoming very large in pregnancy. I have been a Complementary Therapist for 25 years for which I needed a high level of anatomy & physiology. I DO NOT expect anything out of the NHS and in fact have had several negative experiences with the service one of which was that femoral hernia. I have and will pay for medical assistance when required.
I will research health issues and I DO take responsibility for my own health thank you.
I will not accept medical intervention that I feel would be detrimental to my health.
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Throbbing toothache
Phone 111 or 999
Mystified
