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We listen to people throughout Kent and Medway in a variety of settings across the community, including high streets, markets, events, community groups and hospitals. We hear a wide range of views about people’s experiences across services that cover the spectrum of Health and Care, and increasingly how local environments impact the people living within them.
With Healthwatch England sharing what they’d been hearing about peoples’ experiences of 111 across the network in August 2026 we thought it would be a good time to see what we’d heard from Kent and Medway residents who’d given us their views locally.
Out of 43 unique cases that referenced NHS 111 between January 2026 and August 2026 14% (6) described positive interactions while 86% (37) described negative interactions.
Of the positive experiences, 5 people gave feedback that NHS 111 was “good, polite and responsive”. Healthwatch England also found similar, citing “good experiences were those where people felt heard, reassured, and promptly and appropriately advised” (Healthwatch England 2026).
One person from our feedback highlighted how they “spoke to a 111 handler who directed me to a pharmacist who prescribed antibiotics for a recurrent ear infection. Previously I have been directed to an urgent care centre to speak to a GP out of hours. This entailed waiting in a room for hours with a small child (sometimes two) where there is a hybrid of illnesses surrounding us. What a pleasure it was to go directly to the pharmacist!".
Of the negative experiences there were 4 main themes which emerged within our feedback;
Length of time between contacting NHS 111 and getting a call back – 57% (20)
At times this resulted in people attending other services including A&E because they were waiting longer than they had been told they would need to.
“I rang multiple times for help but never got a ring back, except once when my phone showed someone called but my phone never rang… In the end at midnight I went to local hospital UTC. 111 rang back when I was in there, many many hours later”
"I am currently waiting for a call back from a medical professional with my 18 year old daughter following her call for help and giving initial details this morning. Now waiting 7 hours. She was told up to 12 hours which I find beyond comprehension. My previous experience of this service was 1-2 hours which I found ok. While she is not in urgent critical need, not life threatening, her need for care is a real and significant one. I find it totally unreasonable that she should still be waiting 7 hours later. Frankly I did not really believe it when she was told to wait up to 12 hours given my previous experience. Had I known this, I would have proceeded directly to A&E which explains why A&E struggles and would seem to me to defeat the purpose of NHS 111".
Contradictory or unhelpful processes and information – 54% (19)
The pathways that people were directed to following their 111 interactions weren’t always smooth or able to be accessed as people had been told they would be.
“Doctor unable to prescribe antibiotics over the phone, yet last night the doctor said they could”
"I emailed NHS 111 this afternoon my symptoms got worse so rang them between 22:30 and 23:00. I got told I needed to speak to a consultant which I did and was told to ring NHS 111 back to sort out an ambulance which I tried to do but all they wanted to do was book me to discuss with a consultant which I had already done"
"I phoned with basically a serious heart issue and was told not to call an ambulance, weeks later I had other episodes and ended up having 3 CABG [Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery] and am now dying of heart failure"
"They booked me a slot for urgent care, which you need to arrive within 30 minutes of and I don’t have a car"
Call backs at outside of given time frames and at inconvenient hours – 40% (14)
These experiences ranged from people speaking to staff at inopportune times to missing the calls completely and not getting the direction and information they needed.
“I phoned 111 at 13.47 and was told a clinician would call me back within two hours. After three messages apologising for the delay, I was eventually called at 10.45 and 10.54pm. Unsurprisingly, I was in bed trying to get some sleep”
“Was told I would get a call back in no more than 2 hours I finally received a call past midnight 8 hours after calling. Clearly I was asleep and missed the call, this then was cancelled because I missed the call. The next day I rang in the morning 8am was told I would expect a call within two hours. I finally received a call at 5:30pm by which time I had been to A&E. Next day I called saying the antibiotics had made me very sick and needed advice and new antibiotic…I was told I would be called back in an hour. It’s now Monday morning and not had a call back 24 hours later”
Lack of continuity of care between service providers– 34% (12)
This included people having to repeat information because it didn’t follow them digitally. There were also examples of people having to complete bits of the pathway themselves to ensure they got what they needed.
“Practitioner called and asked the same set of questions as the person before and the previous two people”
“I called the pharmacy in advance and they confirmed that they have enough [of the medicine I needed in stock] and they are open. The 111 operator said they can't find any available pharmacy and they will ask a clinician to call me back but that it might take a long time as they are very busy… if I didn't go through the online form the pharmacy would have closed by the time I would have spoken with a clinician.”
We excluded 111 option 2 for mental health support from our search because we regularly review this feedback through the Local Mental Health Networks. However, this was included in Healthwatch England’s findings, with the national body highlighting that people had poorer experiences compared with the regular 111 service. They went further, recommending “NHS England should urgently review people's experiences of accessing crisis mental health support through NHS 111”.
We’ve previously collated feedback about how people are supported during crisis in Kent and Medway which you can read here.
The NHS 10-year plan puts emphasis on both 111 helping it’s shift from hospital to community but also other technologies to help people navigate their way to the right service. For this to work, both locally and nationally, there needs to be improvements to consumer experience to encourage residents to access pathways and services as the system intends.
Now is an opportunity to use a two-way lens looking at services and the public’s way of interacting with them, rather than a one-way view of services simply being delivered to users.
