The NHS 111 service is being investigated in the South West following allegations that teenagers had been drafted in to take urgent calls and photographs emerged of “exhausted” medics asleep on duty.
A number of 17-year-olds were allegedly employed by the South West Ambulance Trust last year to meet call handling targets. They had been authorised to take patients’ names and details and to offer basic advice on locating chemists and health services, but ended up answering urgent calls.
Full story in The Independent 16 February 2016