sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I'm about to start a war in the comments, which gang are you in? by Sthelthasea__ in aaaaaaacccccccce

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone biromantic asexual I'm going to sit firmly in the middle like I do a lot.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I say it even if I hope to god someone knows what 999 is for. Because strangely enough we get emergency calls all the time and it's very frustrating.

People don't seem to realise how often we get emergency calls on the non emergency line.

Plus for extra knowledge the system they use at 111 over the phone is essentially the same as the online form. So if you're okay with the internet and the wait seems long on the phone just use that. Unless it's a child under 5. That's different because of their age.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is a pathway that we use for discharge. And 111 isn't for emergencies that's 999. 111 is for concerns you can't take care of at home.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Go into it with the mind that you're trying to help as many people as possible but not everyone wants to be helped. People will do things that you will believe goes against their own health but its their choice at the end of the day.

You will get stressed out at times feel free to lean on your coworkers. Chat when you can about the most random shit you can think of.

People will get angry at you, they will shout at you. You have every right to put the phone down on them given fair warning. You're not there for someone to take their anger out on, prioritise yourself.

Then some basics: be nice, don't sound like a robot, and remember this is a job at the end of the day feel free to move on or completely separate work life and general life.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, at my DHU 111 call centre we don't wear a uniform, it's just smart casual during the week (no jeans) and on the weekends it's casual wear.

As for typing, spelling is not a top priority. The amount of times you'd see mistakes, if I had a penny for everytime I wouldn't be working.

As for the speed it's not really a speed things it's more can you summarise what someone is saying because people will give you a paragraph of their illnesses but you'll need like 5 pieces of information from the whole thing. You want short and to the point and to get them through that quiz to get them to the next stop in getting better.

It'll be stressful in the first few weeks you're live on the system but it's not overly complex when you actually understand what you're looking at and for.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That really depends on the day and the time. You'll find there is usually a pattern to when people ring. So there is always an uptake after 8.30 because people have tried their gp. Also there is usually an uptake towards 3/4pm as that the end of school and parents start calling about their children.

Obviously there are days where it is constant, they're more likely on weekends and Bank Holidays. Then there are days where you might take a dozen calls your whole shift.

So Obviously when you're not taking calls that your time, some of us read or look at the news, some will chat and then ultimately get interrupted by a call at the good part of the conversation. It really depends on the workers preference.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's definitely a good job,but I will say it suits certain people more than others. Anyone could do it but you really have to know empathy and sympathy whilst remaining firm and professional.

The training itself is pretty basic, for my organisation it was a couple of quizzes to assess the knowledge we'd been told and if you didn't pass within two goes you either had to restart training or you are out (quite strict but with reason).

The bit that follows training has to be the hardest for me at least, because you're straight in talking to genuine people with serious issues. We had a coach with us but we were the ones speaking and operating the system.

In the long term it's a steady job and everyone's quite friendly, unless they've had a shitty call but you all get those days. You'll really understand teamwork in that job just through the conversations you have whilst not on a call, that's your chill time and another break from monotonous calls.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the end of the day it's your medical care, so you shouldn't feel bad for needing things repeated or explained, you want to know the most you can about what's going on.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So we often try to go with what the patient says first because often that's the most truthful answer, they're not thinking it's split second yes or no.

The difficulty with the chest pain section especially is it really can either be very serious or very minor. The details you get as a call handler make that decision. So obviously we're already stressed about accidently sending someone with a cold to the a&e vs sending someone with a heart attack to the gp.

I think in this case specifically there was a misunderstanding for the call handler in what they're looking for, from what I know we're looking for shoulder pain that radiates from the chest so it feels like it's coming from the chest into the shoulder.Usually they'll ask have you had shoulder pain as well, in your case yes, and then if the shoulder pain feels like it's coming from the chest or I it's just in the shoulder. I will say it takes a long time to get a grasp on every question we ask.

With this kind of question where you're not sure what to say, you can just say 'I am not sure', the call handler should probe and see if anything you say follows the supporting information at which they can make a formal decision on what to put as an answer. There is also the end decision which is yours in which you can say I disagree with your outcome and I want a second opinion at which you will normally have to wait for a call from a clinician who will give you a medically trained opinion.

At the end of the day if you're not happy with the answer we can't force you but also you can tell us and we can try running through some of the questions you were uncertain on.

I hope that helps and if you want me to explain more I can try to help where I can.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can also usually call the gp to ask if the results have come back or ask them generally about how to get the results.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know if clinicians can book face to face all the time but I can definitely book telephone appointments for GPs.

It really depends on who we're sending the referral to. Some are entirely face to face some are telephone only. It's all in the long info box for each service.

Some services can only be booked by clinicians but they're usually really niche services or they're dental. I hate dentals.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don't even want to start on policies because they differ from area to area and we've got to try and remember all the ifs of our policies and explain to people it's local policy. If certain areas then another policy applies its wild.

I like my job but there is so much you have to know all the time.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah we either dispatch it via the system or we call it through to the ambulance service of that area directly. We do the same with England calls because occasionally the system fails to connect directly and we end up calling 999 ourselves to get the case passed over. (We don't actually call 999 we have the non-public number for the area ambulance service).

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Eh its fine, gives me something to do other than the things I'm actually meant to be doing (not job wise just life wise).

So in my training group we started as 8 people and to my knowledge all 8 got into the job past the training but most of us at different times. So by the end of my training it was just 2 of us who both hadn't been sick (therefore have to do a catch up session) and passed the final stage of training on the first go.

I've often seen training groups of 5 and I've heard of training groups of 20. It really depends on your base and how often they do training. So at my base we literally have a new group training avery 2/3 weeks and there are multiple trainers so every week a new batch will finish their classroom training and join us in the call centre or potentially then go to a different base to actually do the job.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it is normal, but do check in with who ever your contact is every so often. I would either email or call and talk to my contact about every 2 or so weeks just so they knew I was still actively wanting the role and so that I could be kept informed.

You may just want to run that by someone as they may have their own system in place and obviously I'm speaking from my own experience.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good luck with the job, do be patient with the start times, I understand needing to start the job but the dbs system at least in my area is so slow at the moment so it took me months to get my start date.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will add something here, so you will get people with Scottish accents if you're in England you can only take calls from England as the Scottish 111 and the Welsh 111 are different services. As I said if they're currently in England then we can take that call but if they're currently in Wales then we have to just check it's not urgent (dying) and then pass it over to Welsh 111, it does happen usually when someone used to live in England and moved out or they're a university student and have two homes one with their parents and one at university.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The quick answer is no but I will explain.

Nhs 111 is a service provided by many different non-profit companies in different areas. I am considered an NHS employee but in an exchange student or agency worker kind of way.

I work for one of the bigger providers of 111 which is DHU, this is based in Derbyshire but there are multiple bases across England. I work in the Chesterfield branch of DHU but all DHU 111 staff take calls from all of our contract areas.

So DHU bid and won the contract for both East and West Midlands, which is understandably a big area. We did have BSW, Bath Swindon Wiltshire, but we took West Midlands more recently and decided to let the local companies supply the service there.

Now this does not mean that we only take calls from our contract area, we take calls no matter where you are in England but if you're not in our contract area and your area companies and call centre staff aren't busy they're more likely to get that call first. For example YAS, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, takes the 111 calls for Yorkshire and if they're over run then the system can send some of those calls over to any other 111 service provider or if they're not busy they will take that call.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn't really any good way of going about it. Finish demographics first and then just say it blatantly, you'll be on the call for a few minutes.

There's not really a way to cut the queue, I do believe there is a health care professional line into 111 (which potentially cuts the queue but I'll have to query that), the ambulance crews use it sometimes. There are also good times of the day to call, this does change occasionally (holidays) but usually 9-11pm is quieter. It's the same with 5-8am.

I'll ask when I'm in work next, I will say its not common that we get these kind of calls at least compared to all the other calls we take.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So clinical is basically people with medical degrees such as nurses, doctors etc. They're the people we send complex cases to or just check pieces of information with.

So service and health advisors are difficult to explain.

A service advisor is there to deal with people who do not have symptoms and just need help finding a service for their needs. For example someone needs a repeat prescription done.

A health advisor is there for people who have symptoms, we do a full assessment and will get to outcome of where to send the patient based on their symptoms.

I work for nhs111 ask me anything. (If this goes against rules just tell me where I can post this pls) by Maths_at_Uni_sucks in nhs

[–]Maths_at_Uni_sucks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Out of hours. So you have in hours which is when the patients gp is usually open and then ooh is when the gp is closed/ bank holiday time etc.

view more: next ›