"NHS 111"

In the early hours of a day mid March my teenage daughter woke vomiting. She then experienced a sudden onset, excruciating headache. She experiences migraines, so initially we put it down to this, however after an hour the symptoms persisted and didn't respond to the usual treatment/care. By this point (1: 30am) my daughter was was distressed and tired so I called 111. The adviser talked us through the questions and then said she would need to get a clinician to call us back...with an estimate of 'within 2 hours'. By 2: 30am my daughter was still in a lot of pain and discomfort and unable to sleep, so I called back 111 to chase up the response. I was reassured that someone would call back. By about 4: 30am my daughter eventually managed to fall asleep.... but still no phonecall from a clinician. As soon as the doctors surgery opened at 8am I rang and booked an appointment. We were seen by the doctor at 9: 30am. We finally got the call back from 111 at 10: 15am.... 9 - yes NINE - hours after making our original call.

This is absolutely not acceptable. We had a very distressing, uncomfortable and sleepless night. As a mum I felt totally helpless to see my daughter in so much pain. It is fortunate that my daughters condition was not serious - but it could have been so different... that doesn't even bare thinking about.