South West 111 service rated inadequate

The Care Quality Commission has rated the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust’s (SWASFT) 111 service as inadequate, in a ‘damning report’.

The inspection found that patients requiring emergency care in the South West were left waiting for ‘long periods’ of time, which put callers’ safety at risk.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Ken Wenman, SWASFT chief executive, said: "The CQC report does point out that we were understaffed... it's very difficult to recruit and retain members of staff, particularly clinical staff in this type of service, and that's the focus that we're going to be having as part of the improvements that we're going to make over the coming months."

“What we experience within NHS 111 is indicative, unfortunately, of the national problem with NHS 111, a service that is poorly understood, poorly commissioned, poorly funded will always fail, despite the clear and obvious efforts that are being made by our members.”

The report raised concerns that staff were stressed and tired and calls were being answered by staff who were ‘not trained to assess patients’ symptoms’.

The national target directs that NHS 111 calls should be answered within 60 seconds, however in the South West only 72 per cent of calls were hitting this target.

The CQC has issued a warning to SWAFST to make ‘significant improvements’ by 8 July.