The service said the problem arose because of a system error, when calls were supposed to be passed to a central team which prioritised the urgency of calls.  The leaked report on the national performance of the 111 line, by NHS England, discloses that over the Easter weekend, patients in 30 areas using the phoneline waited more than one hour to be called back.  National guidance says all patients who need clinical assessment should receive a call within 10 minutes.  The same report discloses that in several parts of the country, more than 40 per cent of patients calling the line had such difficulty securing help that they abandoned their efforts.  The document, leaked to GP magazine Pulse, summarises the performance of all NHS 111 providers in the week ending on Easter Monday.  It shows that in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, one patient waited more than 11 hours for a call-back.  In NHS Gloucestershire and Swindon and NHS Dorset, more than 40 per cent of patients gave up in their efforts to secure help via the phone line.  Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee said: “This is an extremely worrying situation. Doctors have repeatedly waned of problems with this service, and now we have ambulance trust admitting that numerous patients are being put at risk. The system appears to be rapidly melting down and we need action to stop patients being put at risk.”  Of 44 areas in England, 37 are now using the 111 service, largely for calls to GP services at evenings and weekends.  The same line was supposed to launch nationally earlier this month as an advice line for all patients, replacing NHS Direct, but the roll-out has been delayed by concerns about the way it has been operating as trials have expanded.  Earlier this week the Commons health select committee announced plans to launch an inquiry into NHS emergency care amid fears that patients are being put at risk by the helpline.  Nick Manning, 61, called the service in Norfolk just before Christmas when his mother, 87, was weak, in pain and struggling for breath, just days after being discharged from hospital after surgery for colon cancer.  A telephone adviser said the family would receive a call back to determine what care the pensioner needed.  But it was not until repeated calls were made, Mr Manning was told that an error meant the call had never been passed on, and it was 12 hours before his mother was seen by a doctor.  In a response to the family’s letter of complaint, Carolyn Andrews, primary care operations manager at NHS East of England Ambulance Service wrote: “Unfortunately the 111 system did experience numerous problems with the Adastra system at the start of our ‘go live’ period which was 4 December 2012, where cases were closed incorrectly.  "On this occasion, the error that occurred was due to a system error whereby the case was closed automatically and did not get passed to the central triage system where the call would be prioritised.”  Mr Manning, a senior manager for the World Bank, said: “It is pretty worrying and extraordinary that the national system to handle medical emergencies is so flawed, that when a frail woman of 87 is in pain and distress, it takes 12 hours before a doctor provides the help that is needed.”  The trust said it was unable to say how many patients had been affected by “a number of issues with the Adastra system” which had occurred during December.  A spokesman for Advanced Computer Software, which provides the Adastra system to 51 NHS sites for their 111 service, said the company was unaware of the problems referred to by the ambulance trust, and had no records to indicate such errors.  NHS England said they were reviewing all sites which are preparing to launch a full service and that any software issues were a matter to be “resolved locally” between NHS providers and the companies with which they hold contracts.
Evidence has emerged of a &ldquo;meltdown&rdquo; in the 111 NHS helpline for out-of-hours   care after a leaked report showed problems in almost every part of the   country.