Baby died after NHS helpline 'failed to spot severity of illness'
The NHS non-emergency helpline cannot identify when children and babies have potentially deadly illnesses, according to a report.
The report was carried out by NHS England following the death of a year-old baby following a series of mistakes.
According to the report, William Mead could have been saved if a 111 call handler had realised the gravity of his illness.
William, from Cornwall, died in December 2014 from sepsis as a result of a chest infection, and the report found 16 mistakes contributed to his death.
It suggested a medic would most likely have realised the need for "urgent medical attention" if they had taken the call instead of staff using the computer system.
Another failure was reportedly by GPs - who saw William six times in the months leading up to his death - to look for signs of sepsis and give him potentially life-saving antibiotics. They also missed the chest infection which contributed to his death.
The report concluded that a "deteriorating paediatric patient" like William was "not easily identified through the structured questioning", called NHS Pathways, used by the 111 call handlers.
It found that even if used properly, the 111 system was "not sensitive enough" to pick up William's illness, a "root cause" in his death.
William's mother, Melissa Mead, recounted the terrible morning she discovered her son had died.