In respect of your reply,  my post was from personal experience and that of close friends..

I appreciate that the service was designed for accessing out of hours advice and support and for minor ailments it is able to fulfill this criteria. In regards to specific conditions,  only the knowledge and experience of a specialist Nurse/Doctor or other qualified professional is acceptable.. in my view..

My partner has had 2 years of immunotherapy under the chemo department with an emergency OoH number and they have ordinarily sent him to a&e for care when a&e are ill equipped to care for him not having the specialist knowledge. I think you can't underestimate how stretched our health service is. There should be a dedicated emergency oncology service as 1 in 2 of us will have some form of cancer in our lifetime I don't think cancer emergencies and acute care needs should be sitting alongside and triaged with accidents and other forms of emergency. Same with mental health emergencies. I think we're being short changed in our health services by trying to umbrella care without specialists who know the particular needs of certain types of patients.

We all have different opinions about lots of things ,its always best for a person to find out for themselves ,my experience has always been very positive and have always been put in touch with the correct staff to deal with the situation , we have no complaints and I'm very thankful to have 111 there for out of hours none emergency ,otherwise you'd call 999 .

No, definitely good to have 111 but once you're under oncology treatments you do get bounced around and signposted back to them a lot and it's frustrating. When my partner has taken treatments from other outlets the oncologist has disapproved. No antibiotics and no steroids on his treatment regime. I think chemo and radiotherapy is better understood in a broader medical setting but immunotherapy seems to flummox most.

I have a couple of autoimmune conditions,  one very rare and whenever I have been  to  A& E..I have been met with blank stares by the medical staff...some things NEED the attention of those who have specialist training...

I agree Lyn there definitely needs to be a better service for people once they have been diagnosed and like the people in question on this post need help from somewhere when they are struggling ,it needs to be available separately from everything else ,for instance my friend who has lung cancer needed her lung drained  last weekend she was waiting 17 hours in A&E feeling really ill ,having to sit among those with flu and viruses etc ,she did get seen and had treatment but as you say if there was a separate setting for such things she would have been seen a lot quicker .

This situation is heartbreaking...

So many vulnerable people needing emergency care and having to endure many hours in A&E surrounded by easily transmitted infections in  many cases...

I have been both fortunate and unlucky in receiving the amazing care from the NHS for 76 years.. fortunate as my life has been saved and prolonged due to the outstanding care I have received.. unlucky to have endured a lifetime of debilitating health issues..which continue to this day..

Hard to imagine the future of our NHS service.. acknowledged as the finest in the world for many decades ...

Hi tangoPotter... how u doin  x

Eastend girl. Hi love. I’m ok still waiting for a scan which should be next week as it will still be in the two week pathway  then they will be able to tell me if it’s spread and hopefully what they can do for me. Hope you are doing ok and your friend  I’m still struggling to eat but I’m trying to eat a little more  but because of worrying about every thing it’s hard  thank you for asking I appreciate your concern. Many thanks xx