Mum reveals near nine-hour wait for NHS 24 advice about ill son
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A distraught mum was left frantic with worry while spending almost nine hours trying to raise an answer on NHS 24 as her son’s ill-health deteriorated.
The 35-year-old mother-of-two from Inverness, who does not wish to be named, grew increasingly anxious for help as her 13-year-old boy’s severe flu symptoms and fever worsened on January 2.
After each of four two-hour waits on NHS Scotland's automated 111 telephone service, the woman was simply cut off and the line went dead.
In among those attempts, she also made another 17-minute call before being similarly cut off.
While the NHS has faced exceptional patient pressures over the festive period, when the woman and her boy eventually saw a doctor at about 11pm that evening she found Raigmore Hospital’s out-of-hours department relatively quiet.
She believes her troubles must have stemmed from an exceptionally high volume of calls nationally on the centralised queueing system.
Non-life threatening and non-emergency outpatient cases are directed to NHS 24, with A&E attendance discouraged.
The woman didn’t feel her son’s condition warranted calling an ambulance, but when he was eventually seen the medic was concerned enough with his breathing to consider keeping him in hospital overnight.
The woman explained: “My son had been ill since Boxing Day and I did everything I was supposed to do, visiting a pharmacist first.
“I was advised to go via 111 and he was seen at out-of-hours on December 27, which went very smoothly. I was on hold for an hour and 40 minutes, which was totally fine. They said it looked like he probably had the flu and just to keep giving paracetamol.
“But from there he just got sicker and sicker. He became incredibly sleepy, chesty and wheezy and had a high temperature the whole time.
“On the day, I started phoning 111 at about 12.45pm and was cut off every time, including after four two-hour calls.
“When we eventually got him seen late that evening, he was pretty poorly and had to be given steroids, antibiotics and inhalers.
“Our treatment, once we actually got to the hospital, was fantastic.”
There has been publicity nationally on NHS 24 calls being cut off after two hours, with the service blaming mobile phone networks.
The public have been advised to use landlines where possible and also Wi-Fi calling. The woman doesn’t own a landline and says she did later switch to Wi-Fi calling.
She added: “None of that should distract from the fact there is a serious issue with the NHS 24 system.
“My son didn’t qualify as needing an ambulance, but desperately needed to see a doctor.
“I just felt utterly helpless.
“There was nowhere to turn, with no pharmacies open on January 2, no GPs.
“If you go to A&E, they will say to you that you need to go via 111, despite the fact I couldn’t raise anyone and kept being cut off.
“Something needs to be done. It is just madness.”
A statement on behalf of Scotland’s NHS 24 service said: “As with the whole system, NHS 24 has seen exceptionally high demand for its services over Christmas and New Year, making it the second busiest festive period and the busiest Boxing Day.
“Across the first four-day period, demand for the 111 service was approximately 20 per cent higher than expected, with the majority of calls relating to cough and cold symptoms.
“Unfortunately, during periods of high demand, people can wait longer for their calls to be answered and our staff work hard to answer every call as quickly as possible.
“NHS 24 understands that some mobile providers disconnect calls depending on network demand capacity.
“This can be avoided with the use of a landline or switching to Wi-Fi calling.
“We have also been providing public health information throughout the period encouraging people across Scotland to be prepared to manage seasonal illnesses at home, with cold and flu remedies.”
