NHS 111 calls ‘rocket 200% as staff unsure they are giving correct Covid advice’
CALLS to the NHS 111 phone line soared by 200 per cent this week, a whistle-blower revealed.
The call handler said staff were so busy they had to hang up after ten minutes as hundreds of parents rang for help about kids with a cold.
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Staff often worried if their advice was correct and blamed muddled messages about Covid-19.
The insider, who works in South London, said: “The symptom guidance we quote to the public doesn’t feel good enough.
“It is not clear whether one symptom is enough or if all three must be present.
“And it doesn’t include breathlessness or other symptoms like vomiting or diarrhoea which kids are said to get.”
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“I am working on the front line yet am not sure about it.”
They added: “We just about have enough people because we’ve hired loads on furlough.”
A report this week called for an inquiry into claims that many critically ill people who died were told to stay at home earlier in the pandemic.
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