Man convicted for calling NHS 111 more than a thousand times 'for his own enjoyment'

A Worthing man has pleaded guilty to making more than a thousand nuisance calls to an NHS advice line for his own 'enjoyment and personal benefit', costing the taxpayer more that £20,000.

Richard William Cove, aged 45 and from Worthing, admitted to one charge of making malicious communications when he appeared at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (10 August).

In April 2019, NHS 111 received a complaint from a member of the public who reported that he kept receiving calls from clinicians from NHS 111 despite never having contacted NHS 111.

An investigation found that a nuisance caller had been calling them and providing false personal details and false medical ailments, many of which resulted in return calls from clinicians and in some cases ambulances being dispatched.

It was discovered that Cove had made 1,263 nuisance calls between April 2019 and April 2020, causing an expense to the service totalling £21,869.21. 

All the calls had a common theme of either providing one of the same small numbers of addresses.

Cove had affected his voice to sound like an elderly woman and talking about her own height and feet, then going on to ask the NHS 111 call taker about their feet.

Cove was arrested at his home where he had been making the calls on his landline.

PC David Quayle said: “He admitted making all the calls, and that they were all for his own enjoyment and personal benefit. He said he had a sexual foot fetish which he indulged during most of the calls."

David Davis, SECAmb’s Head of Integrated Governance, said: “The impact of this individual’s actions should not be underestimated.

"The nature of the calls have also caused unnecessary distress to our staff who are working tirelessly get people the help they require. We welcome the conviction and the work of everyone involved in ensuring Cove is held responsible for his actions.”

NHS 111 is a free NHS telephone and online service for the public to get advice in non-emergency medical situations. The service, provided by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) in Sussex, is taxpayer funded and phone calls from the public are triaged by call takers supported by a variety of clinicians.

Cove will be sentenced on 13 September.