THE NHS 111 non-emergency helpline is failing in its aims according to doctors.

Workers are failing to signpost patients not needing urgent care to more appropriate services such as local walk-in centres and GP surgeries, to the annoyance of hospital staff.

Warnings have be made about how our hospital is struggling to cope with the demand of people through their doors something needs to be done to rectify the situation.

Health bosses need to sit down and completely review the services.

Just this week a top doctor in Blackburn told a meeting how he had been called out to a patient who had experienced constipation for three months.

The case had been escalated because the computer programme used by call handlers categorised the complaint as ‘abdominal pain’.

This patient could easily have seen their GP for what common sense tells us was an ongoing problem, not a medical emergency.

How many other cases are there where our medics are being forced to spend precious time diagnosing non-urgent conditions.

At a time when we are being told our A&E is stretched this sort of case should never pass through their door.