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Contacting NHS 111 for advice

Posted By Mrs Benton

"Contacting NHS 111 for advice"

About: DHU Healthcare CIC / NHS 111

(as a relative),

My husband contacted NHS 111 twice now for guidance around severely hardened earwax whoch impacts on his hearing-after he had already tried the usual like ear drops-olive spray and microsuction at Specsavers-following NICE guidelines. 

The advisor at NHS 111 asked a lot of questions which were not really relevant and it appeared that they just followed a script.

They advised him to go to a pharmacy which he had already done. They then said that a clinician will be in touch. When my husband checked his phone he noticed that NHS 111 phoned him 3 times-at 3.30am ,4am and 4.06am and 4.42am.....it appeared to be an automated call.....

We feel that this is completely unacceptable and will not contact NHS 111 again.It seems to be a waste of time and money and th advisors need to be better at listening and not just follow a generic script.

Luckily my husband was able to receive support from his GP now.

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Responses

Response from Judith Brown, Patient Engagement and Experience Manager, Corporate Governance, DHU Health Care CIC 3 weeks ago
Judith Brown
Patient Engagement and Experience Manager, Corporate Governance,
DHU Health Care CIC

Submitted on 07/04/2025 at 14:54
Published on Care Opinion at 14:54

Good afternoon, Mrs. Benton

Thank you for providing feedback on behalf of your husband regarding his recent contacts with our NHS111 service regarding his ear problems. We always aim to provide the best service and care possible for our patients, and I am sorry that this has not happened on this occasion in relation to staff attitude, delays in call backs received and expectation of the service not being met following initial contact with our NHS111 service. I am also disappointed that as a result of this experience you would not use our NHS111 service in the future if required.

Firstly, I am glad that Mr. Benton was able to receive support from his own GP and has hopefully now received the necessary care and treatment or advice and support required, and he is now starting to feel better. However, we are keen to review his journey with our NHS111 service to identify if there is any learning on our behalf. If you would like to contact our NHS111 Clinical Governance team directly either via telephone on 0300 1000 407 (should you get the answerphone message then please leave your name and contact details and a member of the team will call you back within office hours – Mon-Fri, 0900-1700) or via email @ DHUL.ClinicalGovernance@nhs.net with as much detail as you can (e.g., dates, times, name, address and the details of your feedback as per your post on Care Opinion) to enable the team to carry out a thorough review.

In the meantime, I wish Mr. Benton a speedy recovery and both of you all the best for the future.

Best wishes,

Judith Brown

Patient Engagement and Experience Manager (DHU Health Care)

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