Under-fire 111 service praised after former MP suffers heart attack

Now Lord Willis of Knaresborough after being made a peer three years ago, he spoke out in the House of Lords in defence of the troubled service after a key contractor pulled out.

It had prompted Labour’s John Reid, the former Health Secretary, to accuse Ministers of “complacency” amid a raft of claims that patient safety was being jeopardised by poorly-trained staff – allegations exposed by Channel Four’s Dispatches documentary.

But Lord Willis, a Lib Dem MP from 1997-2010, sought to redress the balance. “There is a real sense that very significant numbers of people calling the 111 service get a good service,” he told the Lords.

“On June 9, I had reason to call 111 because I was having a heart attack. The response from 111 was excellent, in York. At the same time not only did the service call the paramedics but it had me in hospital within 25 minutes to an absolutely superb accident and emergency service.

“If York can do that in such an efficient and superb way, why cannot we guarantee that service throughout the country?”

His intervention was welcomed by Earl Howe, a health minister, who said: “The service is working well in the vast bulk of the country. Unfortunately, in two particular areas we have seen problems, which are being gripped.

“I am confident that NHS England has taken these issues forward with the seriousness that they deserve.

“I am assured that, even in the areas where problems have arisen, the service is good.”