Hey everyone
I've listened to you all and called 111
They weren't very helpful, saying it's just a bug, I had to almost scream at them I'VE JUST HAD A STENT"
They finally listened and I'm waiting for a call back
I've also told Mum and she's trying (but failing) to remain calm
V x
When I said on here some time ago I thought that 111 were useless I got shouted down. That wasn't from just one experience it was from at least three. So I rarely recommend them if ever. I sincerely hope you get a call back in a reasonable timeframe, but be mindful it might be in the middle of the night, it might extend to tomorrow, and it might not necessarily be from a doctor, only a nurse practitioner. So I would think contingency plans if things dont work out as you would like. Hope you get sorted
Hello 
I have hardly popped on today and when I do I read your posts and feel so shocked that you are not feeling well
Try though and stay calm you have certainly done the right thing and I am so glad 111 have listened even if it took some doing
Obviously because I know you know your own body if you feel in any danger dial 999
Well done Mum trying to act like you are calm but as Mum's we are going to be concerned and V is as sharp as you are as you are both so alike and strong women
Please let us know how you are I shall try and keep coming on for updates and as always so many care and will be sending positive vibes your way x
Sorry to hear Valentina and hope 111 has now rung you back Never take chances as others have said to you
Mmm why can't it just be a bug? Just saying. What makes you think it is stent related?
I am just thinking aloud here, as you obviously were annoyed with 111 for saying it was just a bug so you must think it is stent related.
I have to admit after my stent I was throwing up and (the other) 🥺 for a few days after (not this long though) I think it was because they pumped me full of drugs to keep me calm.
TBH I am not sure what the staff on 111 will be able to tell you so it may have been better all around to go to the hospital first as last.
Did you give them a list of your medication as it may well be that something there may be upsetting you.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
Hey
It could very well be a bug, but given my recent hospital admission I thought I should get checked out.
V x
’only’ a nurse practitioner. You know some of these are more experienced than a lot of doctors? I have friends who are 111 nurse practitioners and they’re fantastic. They’re not second best, though not to be confused with a 111 call handler. I had a nurse practitioner in cardiology who was so knowledgeable.
Very well said my Heart Failure Nurse has as much skill in Cardiology as many Junior Doctor albeit only in Cardiology, which she has studied and has experience of over many years.
Regards
If your comment is a comment on my comment above (!), I am sure that you are correct in saying that some nurse practitioners are more experienced than some doctors, and I do not doubt many are highly skilled in what they do. But then the reverse could also apply. And the problem with dealing with a nurse practitioner, as I found out when I dealt with 111 on one occasion, is that they cannot prescribe, so you have to wait for a doctor to become available if you require medication, which involves a further delay if you are dealing with111 waiting for a call, and in my case with 111 this was many hours later. And specifically when dealing with the nurse practitioner on 111 I had, I felt she was reading from some sort of check list just like initial call logger, and I felt much more comfortable when I did finally get put through to the doctor, which was another reason I said what I said.
" is that they cannot prescribe ",
My Nurse Practitioner can Prescribe Medication and she also writes to my GP when she titrates my dose. I agree not all Nurse Practitioners can prescribe but an lot of them can.
The Nurse I see can also order a Blood Test and organise and prescribe Iron Infusions etc so they are Highly Skilled.
Regards
To be clear I am not trying to do nurse practitioners a disservice. They undoubtedly make a valuable contribution to the NHS and take some of the burden from doctors, and other more senior specialists, which is clearly why the service is set up like this. However they come with some professional limitations, and prescribing medication may well be one of them, although the fact that some nurse practitioners can prescribe is good to know, although in my own personal experience I have never had a nurse practitioner who has been able to prescribe when required, and certainly not the case when I contacted 111, hence my original comments.
To be clear I am not looking for a fight, just pointing out that a Nurse Practitioner phoning in a couple of hours is far better than waiting many more hours for a Dr to call.
It would be interesting to know how many visits to A & E the 111 service saves and how many 111 calls lead to more serious outcomes.
I think 111 is going to be as good as it gets for a long while into the future. The only time I have been to A & E in the past few years I was told to go by my Heart Failure Nurse Practitioner and when I got to A & E I was admitted by a Cardiology Nurse Practitioner.
"I have never had a nurse practitioner who has been able to prescribe when required, and certainly not the case when I contacted 111, hence my original comments."
I don't think anyone can Prescribe over the phone be it a GP or N P ?
My neighbour an 88 y o gentleman phoned his GP the other day because he was feelin unwell who turned up to see him a Paramedic employed by the surgery. He took his BP, ECG and Blood Sugar levels, and Temperature and diagnosed he was just feeling off colour and left it at that. Told him if he didn't feel any better call again later. Things are really starting to change !!!!
Looks like the way forward is with Specialist Nurse Practitioners & Para Medics
Regards
To be clear I am not looking for a fight,
To be quite clear neither am I, nor ever have been, just putting an alternative view forward in a civilised manner just like you
....just pointing out that a Nurse Practitioner phoning in a couple of hours is far better than waiting many more hours for a Dr to call.
Agreed
It would be interesting to know how many visits to A & E the 111 service saves and how many 111 calls lead to more serious outcomes.
That's why 111 is there, how well it performs is another matter
I think 111 is going to be as good as it gets for a long while into the future. The only time I have been to A & E in the past few years I was told to go by my Heart Failure Nurse Practitioner and when I got to A & E I was admitted by a Cardiology Nurse Practitioner.
That's why your practitioners are there, as I acknowledged earlier
"I have never had a nurse practitioner who has been able to prescribe when required, and certainly not the case when I contacted 111, hence my original comments."
I don't think anyone can Prescribe over the phone be it a GP or N P ?
Without going into my 111 saga yet again, the doctor I spoke to on 111 (eventually after many hours wait ) was prepared to prescribe over the phone, but by then it was too late for me to get what I wanted. Further, as an example, my GP prescribed antibiotics for me late last year over the phone for a suspected chest infection without seeing me, in spite of me challenging her on this in view of the apparent reluctance of the medical profession to prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily.
My neighbour an 88 y o gentleman phoned his GP the other day because he was feelin unwell who turned up to see him a Paramedic employed by the surgery. He took his BP, ECG and Blood Sugar levels, and Temperature and diagnosed he was just feeling off colour and left it at that. Told him if he didn't feel any better call again later. Things are really starting to change !!!!
You are lucky to have a GP surgery like that. The service provided by my GP practice has deteriorated in recent years particularly since the pandemic, that is something that appears commonplace
Looks like the way forward is with Specialist Nurse Practitioners & Para Medics
Agreed. That is why it has been set up to be so, as I acknowledged earlier
Anyway that's me done on this subject.
When you say they come with limitations, what limitations do you mean? My husband's cardiac nurse was/is able to prescribe meds, arrange blood tests, scans, echo's, iron infusions, etc, and is highly respected by his consultant who often takes advice from her. Additionally, the GP always (though not always very happily!) defers to his nurse re treatment, meds etc. The one time the GP took my husband off one of his meds his consultant was furious about it, he immediately said if the GP interferes with meds again to let him know & he'll sort it. So now if there's been a change of meds the consultant always asks who authorised the change, the GP or your current nurse & is always happy to know it was the nurse!! I agree with Prada47, specialist nurses are being used more & more & the nurses together with virtual wards are the way the NHS is going forward. Pretty much the only thing the nurses can't do is actually operate on you!
Unfortunately in recent years we've had to contact nhs111 on a number of occasions, we've never had any issues with the system, even on the 'tick box' calls a clinician (nurse practitioner or Dr) has always phoned back within 30 mins.
See my comments above, and earlier, also bearing in mind this thread is all about the provision of general 111 services not the specialist services provided by no doubt highly competent cardio nurse practitioners, which seems to have diverted attention away from the subject matter.
And finally finally you are lucky to always get call backs from 111 within 30 minutes. My experience is many many hours later and even then they were not much help, but this whole 111 performance thing was done to death (no pun intended ) in another thread.
Unfortunately like all things in life some people have bad experiences, others have great experiences & some have ok experiences. We're not lucky to have had a good experience, for every negative experience they're always be a positive experience. But ok, I can read that you want to close this close this thread but it's an open forum & each member can choose to continue commenting or not!
You have misunderstood my intentions. I don't want to close this thread, I just want to shut down my involvement in this particular part of it. If you want to continue contributing on this subject that's your prerogative, so do carry on. 👍
No, I don't don't think I misunderstood, with all due respect if you want to shut down your involvement in the thread then the way to do that is to simply not reply!! 👍
Just like to add one final point from me. After your problem with 111 did you contact your local commissioning group to complain ? I think that's currently what is wrong with the whole system, we no longer complain. Everyone seems to have forgotten what the word Service means oh and Work !!!
And I believe our Expectations are Greater than what the system can supply.
Regards
p.s. I do enjoy a debate
111 uses a tick sheet system. If you don't use the trigger words on that, they ignore you. Words like heart attack, chest pain, cardiac arrest, all get an immediate ambulance request. Feeling ill, temperature, ache , breathless, get, if you're lucky a nurse call back in a few hours.My heart attack ( Main symptom horrific indigestion) was treated like a stomach upset until I mentioned pain and tingling in left arm and neck. You can try the online version to see just how d.ifferent words can point in a completely different direction
I am so sorry to hear you have had a little set back, hope you are feeling better very soon that this doesn't knock your optimism that has been showing so strongly.
I’ve had covid for over a week and my situation took a dive tonight - simply coughing non stop with phlegm.
My GP was closed by 5.30. I rang 111 and got answered. I was told a callback would come in 30 minutes. 3 hours later I was rung. The Dr listened to me and said he couldn’t do anything for me until he can listen to me. He offered me a slot at his 24 hour GP service -24 miles away. I don’t drive and am unwell with covid.
So all in all pretty pointless. I ll get a cab to A&E (ED) in the morning.
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