Five deaths in five months after 'problems' with NHS 111 helpline
Five deaths have been linked to problems with the NHS's 111 helpline in the last five months, according to the health service.
Details released to The Daily Telegraph via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that at least one person died after call handlers entered the wrong information into a system used to assess the patient's condition.
In one case, an operator in the south entered the wrong answer into the system when dealing with a patient - and a week later, the person died from severe respiratory distress.
Another patient died in the Midlands and East region after calling 111 with shortness of breath.
An incident report filed after the death blamed "ineffective triaging", which had seen the call handler focus on the patient's diabetes over the breathlessness.
Another patient in the same region died when a call handler chose the wrong option, meaning the system - called Pathways - did not prompt the handler to ask the caller to perform CPR.
The NHS insisted that all the incidents have been fully investigated and "lessons learned".
It comes after bereaved mother Melissa Mead met Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over the death of her one-year-old son William, who died from sepsis after a 111 helpline operator failed to recognise his symptoms.
The 111 helpline is offered as a way for people to get help and advice for non-emergency medical incidents. It is run either by an ambulance trust, a private firm or a social enterprise, depending from which part of the country the call is made.
Callers speak to a "highly-trained adviser, supported by healthcare professionals", who "ask a series of questions to assess your symptoms and immediately direct you to the best medical care for you," according to the NHS.
The Pathways system helps to classify patients' symptoms.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the NHS would only release data for five months as any more would cost more than the limit for FoI requests.