Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, commenting on NHS England’s report into the NHS 111 service, said:

“This report raises serious questions about the ability of NHS 111 to properly identify patients with serious or life threatening illnesses.  

"Our thoughts today must be with William Mead’s family who have been tragically let down by NHS services. The report is clear that if one course of action had been taken differently, William might still be alive today. 

"This isn’t the first time concerns about the effectiveness of the 111 service have been raised. When Ministers scrapped NHS Direct and replaced it with 111, they were repeatedly warned about replacing nurses with call handlers.

"Ministers need to take urgent action to respond to the report’s recommendations and, in particular, calls for 111 staff to be properly trained.”