Hunt puts blame on the success of 111 out-of-hours service

[Northerner]

Their lives were cut short needlessly when doctors and NHS hotline staff failed to spot the illnesses that would kill them.

Sam Morrish, three, and Chloe Welch, four, died from sepsis.

Sebastian Randle, who was just a baby, succumbed to an infection.

Had the tragic lessons of their deaths been learnt, a fourth child, William Mead, might be alive today.

An NHS report revealed by the Mail yesterday shows that doctors and a 111 call handler all failed to detect how gravely ill one-year-old William was.

The inquiry found that the box-ticking computer script used by the hotline’s non-medical staff was not set up to spot sepsis.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3418368/Three-tragic-children-failed-NHS-hotline.html

 

[Lynn Davies]

So tragic but this is just one reason why A&E's are crammed full of unnecessary patients. No one trusts 111.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Considering the 111 service could offer no help with someone haemorrhaging after surgery and telling that person to drive to the hospital that they named (2 hour journey) I would suspect the service is not fit for purpose.

 

[Northerner]

Considering the 111 service could offer no help with someone haemorrhaging after surgery and telling that person to drive to the hospital that they named (2 hour journey) I would suspect the service is not fit for purpose.

There were enough problems with NHS Direct, then the government decided to hugely reduce the number of qualified nursing staff available and try and run it like some sort of menu-driven car repair service. I think it was always inevitable there would be some very serious problems. I honestly believe, however, that this government views these tragedies as collateral damage, just as they do with the sanctioned benefits claimants who kill themselves, in their ruthless drive to 'save' money If they have to shed the occasional crocodile tears, they can live with that.