NHS 111

I found the staff on the phone to be kind and straight to the point, they phoned back when they said they would, I felt listened to and very reassured. They gave me time to talk.

As a couple we have used 111 a few times and found them to be brilliant.. One time I was refused an appointment at my surgery and after phoning and talking to 111 they managed to get me seen.

Another time they sent me to A&E but they had pre booked me in so I didn't have to wait and got seen straight away

I had my COVID jab at the castle quarter and the next day when I woke up my arm had frozen, I was really scared and the lady on the phone was wonderful and very reassuring, she said a paramedic was 30 minutes away and she would get them to call in even though she was sure it was nothing to worry about as I could move other things. When they arrived they gave me some pain killers and told me that it was due to the injection going into a nerve but if I wasn't better the next day to call again.

I ... did recover that day.

I called 111 as I was having significant problems with my vision. The first call was pretty positive, they did an assessment and referred me to PES which is the patient eyecare services.

They booked me in at an opticians for an OCT however when I got there I found it was a small branch that didn't have the right equipment to conduct the test. I had new symptoms a few days later and called 111 again.

I mentioned my previous episode and there was a suspicion of stroke, but a medic didn't call ... me back for two hours which doesn't feel prompt enough. I was advised to go to A&E and that 111 would send my records to them, however when I got there they didn't have my notes which caused me a lot of confusion.

I called 111 while I was sat in A&E at the James Paget and was told they'd misinformed me, my records couldn't be sent. They did apologise but the whole experience was very muddled.

My husband has blood cancer and a neurological condition. He got Covid and he's supposed to get antivirals within five days so I called 111 as this is what we had done previously.

We were told we'd be called back before midnight and nobody phoned. The ICB are looking into this and 111 have told them they have it on record that they did call but they didn't.

A clinician called us the next day and said he does need the antivirals but nothing further happened. I called them a few times and they ... said they'd passed urgent messages to the Covid Medicine Delivery Unit but still nothing happened.

The window of treatment was missed.

I called 111 because I couldn't get a doctors appointment. I was told someone would call me back but no one ever did. Not a good experience at all.

Urinary retention caused by infection following removal of SRC after prostate surgery. Pain so intense it was making me vomit.

Called 111, answered the expected catalogue of questions & was advised that they would arrange a visit to an urgent care centre and get back to me within 2 hours. After 2 hours received a text to say they were working on it and call 111 if worse - which I did.

Suffered a repeat of the same stream of questions before being told someone would ring me back within the ho ... ur. Received a call back & a repeat of the same unnecessary questions (if they wanted to know if my condition had changed they should have just asked that one question).

Some one then tried to tell me that I should wait 12 hours before requiring further assessment. It was at that point I realised their objective was not to provide care or assistance but just to follow a script and act as gatekeepers preventing access to emergency care.

I immediately abandoned the 111 process and attended my local A&E where I had a SRC inserted which stopped the pain & vomiting immediately & was commenced on anti-biotics for the infection. I hate catheters and would do anything to avoid them but I do recognize that on this occasion it was necessary to stop the pain and avoid kidney damage.

I will never, ever consider using NHS 111 again. Absolutely appalling care (or lack of it).

I'd give them less than a 1 if I could, worst service I've ever used. I needed an emergency dentist and some of the numbers they gave me weren't even dentists they were GPs. I kept calling back and kept getting told wrong things.

A friend was at a really crisis point with their mental health and despite being so exhausted, phoned the service in the hope they'd get some help. Unfortunately whilst the person helping was well intentioned, they focussed in on certain elements in the conversation which were not relevant nor useful.

It felt like they weren't really being listened to at all and unfortunately left them feeling worse than when they called. They were honest on the phone about how they were and to hear that the p ... hone call was how it was, was really infuriating and worrying given the state of their mental health that it hadn't been addressed really and they were just left to it .

It left them thinking that they are just expected to do it alone. The service therefore needs a total rethink, and actually some listening to the individual properly and some proper help rather than suggesting ideas that the person had already thought of or done.

The nature of the call, could have had serious consequences and left me in genuine concern for my friend that evening more than I was already and therefore the system does need to be looked at.

My husband aged 69 rang at 3.30pm today. It is now 11pm and he hadn't been called back. Appalling service