A mum stuck in her house for six months waited more than a day for a callback from an out-of-ours GP after dialling 111.
Lauren Wallace, 24, is housebound with agoraphobia, a condition causing panic attacks when people with it are in stressful situations like leaving the house or taking public transport, according to the NHS. It's sometimes triggered by bereavement, and Lauren, from Bebington, has been suffering from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and flashbacks since giving birth to a stillborn baby five years ago.
Lauren said: "I was pacing the house, I was seeing things, I was getting bad flashbacks, I was constantly sweating. I was getting up to six showers a day because I was getting that panicky, and that many panic attacks were coming one after the other, that the only thing that would help me was ice cold showers."
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Earlier this year, she started taking lorazepam, a sedative used to treat anxiety, which starts working in half an hour and lasts for up to eight hours. It makes a "massive difference" to Lauren's life. Although she'd love to take her kids to the park and watch them play football, she's still barely able to lean out the door to drop a rubbish bag in the bin.
Lauren told the ECHO: "Don't get me wrong, I'm still anxious, I'm still on edge, I still have the flashbacks. But it relaxes me and just calms me down."
Unable to visit the pharmacy herself, Lauren's carer picks up her prescription each week. But one Saturday, the pills were missing from the pharmacy bag, leaving her without medication to last even the weekend of July 23 and 24.
People on lorazepam are advised to gradually reduce their doses with a doctor, particularly if they've been on it for more than a month. Suddenly coming off it can cause side effects like confusion, seizures, depression, sweating and diarrhoea, the NHS website warns.
Lauren called NHS 111 looking for an emergency prescription to tide her over the weekend until her GP practice opened, but it took roughly 26 hours and 34 minutes for the out-of-hours GP to call her back. She was prescribed a pill of lorazepam another two hours later after calling the crisis line at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where her mental health support team is based, to confirm she needs the medication.
Until that moment of "relief", she was unable to sleep, in a "panic state" and "having withdrawal", with "nothing to help". Although 111 call handlers "were really nice and reassuring" when she called the helpline numerous times over those two days, she said she felt the "GP was dismissive and judgmental" when they finally called on the Sunday evening.
Lauren said: "There was no compassion. I felt I was being judged and that I was just phoning to try and get more. It's not supportive and it's not helpful.
"I felt really embarrassed, really low and intimidated. I felt like there was no one to help me."
The average speed for answering 111 calls was 395 seconds in July, 20 times longer than the target of 20s, and the third slowest this year, after January and March, the Daily Telegraph reports. Just 42% of calls were assessed by a clinician, and patients have waited overnight for call from a doctor, the paper said.
Some NHS hospitals are already directing patients to 111, GPs and pharmacies instead of emergency departments as the health service gears up for winter amid the pressure of rising patient numbers, staff shortages and backlogged waiting lists. But delays in NHS 111 services means patients abandon calls, according to Sarah Scobie, deputy director of health charity the Nuffield Trust, who said this could put patients at risk and place more pressure on other urgent care services.
Lauren said she's made a complaint to the NHS about her experience. She feels it's part of a wider lack of support for people with mental health, saying her ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) has been unmedicated since she left children's services at 18, and has gone private to get the help she needs.
The 24-year-old, who runs a Facebook group for people with mental health conditions, said: "It's just an absolute joke. I've lost two friends in the past couple of months due to mental health. There's just not enough help for men and women."
A spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside said: "We are committed to providing the best possible care for our patients and anyone with concerns about their experiences are encouraged to contact us so we can discuss these with them directly.
"Our NHS remains extremely busy and members of the public can help us by ensuring they seek help from the most appropriate health services, using NHS 111 online for 24/7 advice about the most appropriate care for your needs, only attending A&E if seriously ill or injured, knowing when your GP practice is open, and planning ahead to ensure you are re-stocking medicine cabinets and requesting repeat prescriptions, particularly ahead of weekends and Bank Holidays."
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