Patient experiences of the NHS 111 service in Devon & Somerset

Healthwatch Devon, Plymouth and Torbay and Healthwatch Somerset wanted to find out if people’s experiences of the NHS 111 service have improved or changed since a previous survey carried out in 2020.

256 respondents completed the survey. Most respondents (53.2%) rated their experience of using 111 as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, whilst 36.7% said it was ‘good’ or ‘very good’. In the 2020 review, under a third had rated their experience as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, and more than half had rated their experience as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

46.6% of respondents said NHS 111 directed them to another service; respondents were most commonly directed to 999 or the ambulance service (32.9%), an out-of-hours GP (19.6%), and a GP surgery during normal opening hours (17.1%). In the previous 2020 review, 55.9% of respondents said they were passed to another service by 111.

When asked what went well, the most common responses were that 111’s solution was helpful or satisfactory, the call handlers were sympathetic and polite, the service was efficient, and that information was clear and adequate.

Long waiting times or difficulty connecting to a call handler were the most common complaints among people who had poor experiences; 34.2% of respondents said they waited longer than three minutes for their call to be answered, and 18.6% said their call was not answered at all. Other complaints included long automated messages, too many questions, poor communication between services, and call handlers’ lack of medical knowledge or awareness.

A number of recommendations were made in the report.