Tuesday, March 11th 2014 – 9am – Jamie Arrowsmith.
Two members of the public who were delighted with the service they received from NHS 111 (West Midlands) are to be reunited with the Health Advisors who took their call.
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), who provide the 111 service to residents of Birmingham, the Black Country, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire, welcomed two thankful callers to their Brierley Hill call centre on Tuesday (March 11) who had to use the non-emergency service for vastly differing reasons.
For Hilary Crump, calling 111 was an experience she will never forget as it was whilst on the line that she gave birth to her first child, Benjamin.
Throughout the duration of the call, Hilary, from Malvern, received excellent support and advice from NHS 111 Health Advisor, Christina Lees, for which she remains extremely grateful.
Hilary said: “Christina was incredibly helpful and supportive on the phone, gave me lots of good advice before and after the baby was born and made sure she talked me through what to do until the paramedics arrived.
“I am so grateful to her and the 111 service for the support I had whilst Benjamin was being born. I cannot thank Christina enough.”
Reflecting on the call, which was received in the early hours of the morning, Christina said: “Listening to someone have a baby was not necessarily what I was expecting at 4am but it was nice to be able to help Hilary in her moment of need.
“It will be really nice to be able to meet up with her today and meet baby Benjamin to see how he is getting on. On so many occasions at the end of a call you think it would be nice to be able to follow it up and check if the patient has recovered and I’m grateful this time that it will be possible.”
Geri Murray, from Wordsley, phoned 111 when suffering with hip pain and as a result of not currently being registered with a GP. After receiving advice on how to deal with the pain, Geri was given detailed advice from Health Advisor, Charlotte Vivash, on all of the GP surgeries close by that she may be able to register with.
Reflecting on the help and advice she was given by Charlotte, Geri said: “I am so thankful to Charlotte for the time she spent with me on the phone in order to try and help me sort out the pain I was in and a GP surgery I could register with.
“Too often we are quick enough to criticise people or organisations when we get bad service, but I will be pleased to be able to meet Charlotte to thank her for her fine work in person.”
Looking back on the call, Charlotte added: “I remember speaking to Geri well and offering the best advice I could in order to try and help her in a difficult situation.
“I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to meet her today as it is rare for us to be able to make a personal connection with callers to the 111 service.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Hilary, Geraldine, Christina and Charlotte are all available to speak to over the phone between 10am and 11.30am today. Please call 07896 175362 for further information.
Pictures of the quartet will be available this afternoon on request.
1 comment