Let down by 111

sir – Last Saturday my mother developed an infection in her foot. As a GP, I am well aware that such infections can spread rapidly. I advised my father to ring 111, expecting that a prescription could be sent to the pharmacy 200 yards from his house.

Instead the first call was followed several hours later by a further call offering her an appointment at an urgent-care centre many miles away. This was based at Royal Preston Hospital, which has been at the centre of a lockdown in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19.

My father, who is in his late 80s, dutifully drove my mother to her appointment, where they had to wait for several hours – my mother, who has dementia, conversing with all and sundry. Eventually they were seen and my father was then left to drive home in the dark, arriving back after midnight. They were not actually given the antibiotic needed but a prescription requiring them to travel out again on Sunday to find a pharmacy.

Having advised my parents for months of the importance of staying at home and protecting the NHS, it has managed to mess them around and to put them both at unnecessary risk. We should expect better.

Dr John Ashcroft

Preston, Lancashire