Many of us experience the frustration of trying to get medical treatment only to be put off by long waiting times and systems that seem designed to keep us away from either the GP surgery, or A&E.
It terrible to hear of a tragedy where we all say "if only" a number of times and think that one changing event could have saved a life.
The report published suggests a number of shortcomings in William's treatment from incorrect recording of symptoms, shortcomings in advice if his condition worsened, and reliance on a telephone triage system. It would seem the 111 service was the last chance to save William's life, but the first opportunity lay with his GP and their out of hours service according the stories published today.
A vast majority of us do not want to overstretch the NHS. It is entirely right that we have systems to help people with minor ailments and keep our emergency services just for emergencies.
However, lessons must be learned and changes made when a young life is lost to a serious illness and a system designed to keep patients away from hospital.
The report details the opportunities missed to save William's life. It found: William's GP had not recorded all of the relevant information in his notes William's symptoms had not been recognised as something more serious The advice about what his parents should do over the weekend if William's condition worsened had been inadequate The out-of-hours GP service had not had access to William's primary care records The pathway tool used by NHS 111 advisers had been too crude to pick up "red-flag" warnings relating to sepsis "Had any of these different courses of action been taken, William would probably have survived," the report said.
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