Latest news with #A&E
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Three network blackout meant man 'unable to dial 999' when mum disappeared
A Three network outage caused chaos across the UK with one man unable to get in touch with his mum after seeing an ambulance outside her house via a video camera A man who saw an ambulance outside his mum's house through his video camera was unable to call her or the emergency services after a mass network outage. David Henry was alerted to a possible incident at his mum's home in Fife when an alert went off on his phone. When he clicked onto the camera app, he saw an ambulance outside her address. David, a freelance TV producer, feared the worst as his elderly mother has Alzheimer's, and immediately tried to call her landline and also spoke to a cyclist through the video camera who his mum had flagged down to call an ambulance. However, due to an issue with Three's mobile network causing chaos a network outage across the UK on Wednesday, June 25, none of David's calls would connect as he got in his car and drove 30 miles from Edinburgh to Methill. When he arrived, the ambulance had just left his mum's house. David frantically tried to call 999 to find out what had happened and where his mum had been taken, but he claims calls to the emergency services also would not connect. At the same time, the paramedics were also trying to get through to David to find out details of his mum's condition and medication. David eventually drove to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy where he assumed she had been taken. After waiting for two hours, he was still in the dark about where his mum was or if she was hurt. After being approached for comment a spokesperson for Three apologised the network was not accessible. It's understood Three was also investigating why none of David's calls to the emergency services were connected through an alternative network. Speaking to EdinburghLive David said: "She flagged someone down to call an ambulance which visited her home. I have a camera which sends me alerts to my phone as I'm her carer and keep an eye on things. "I saw that and tried to phone her. I couldn't make any calls and thought it was engaged. I eventually spoke to a man through the camera itself and he said the phone is back on the hook can you try again. "I tried again and it still wouldn't work so I dropped everything and jumped in the car. By the time I got there I just missed the ambulance so I went to A&E assuming she had been taken there but there was no sign of her. "I was waiting for two hours with no idea where she was or what happened. Eventually they phoned the ambulance service from A&E for me and discovered they had dropped her off at a day care place. "I had an extremely stressful day thanks to this. I tried to dial 999 at her house to find out where she was and I couldn't even do that. "That is a very serious service error. I got all the messages and missed calls through this morning (Thursday). Indeed the ambulance did try phone me to discuss her medical needs." David raised serious concerns about those who were in need of an ambulance on Wednesday and were unable to get through. A spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed it was in contact with Three to establish the scale and cause of the problem. David continued: "I went in to A&E and they just said she wasn't on the system so I was there two hours getting more and more wound up. I was thinking 'well where could she be?' "It was a terrible two hours. Of course mum doesn't remember anything about it and thankfully she wasn't injured. "999 is always meant to work, whether you've got credit on your phone or not. This was a complete failure and there is no excuse for it. These systems are meant to be backed up. "I phoned my friend as I was jumping in the car and that worked on WhatsApp. She then told me it's all over the news there is a mass outage. This is a very serious licence failure so I hope Ofcom take this seriously." Last year Ofcom fined BT £17million for being "ill-prepared" to respond to a failure of its emergency call handling service in 2023. In June 2025 BT experienced a network fault that affected its ability to connect 999 calls between 6am and 5pm. During this time nearly 14,000 call attempts were unsuccessful. A Three spokesperson said: 'We're sorry that Mr Henry couldn't use our network on Thursday. While outages of this nature are rare, we understand the impact they can have and are doing everything we can to ensure it doesn't happen again." An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Phone networks must take appropriate and proportionate measures to reduce the risk of - and prepare for - potential outages. Where we've found failures to do so, we've shown we'll take action. "We're aware that Three has experienced problems with its network, and we're in contact with the company to establish the scale and cause of the problem as soon as possible."
Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
6 million hours of A&E time taken up by people with minor ailments such as colds
See NHS list of conditions you can now get a quick consultation for at your local pharmacy amid warnings A&Es are being overwhelmed Six million hours of time in A&E is being taken up by patients who could be treated at their local chemist. This includes patients going to A&E with blocked noses, common colds, acne and requesting routine medication. In England 325,000 people visited A&E with a sore throat or a cold, costing the NHS £44 million that year alone. Some 62,000 people visited A&E with nose bleeds, 18,000 with blocked noses, 40,000 with eczema and 1,000 attended with acne. Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association said: 'Of course people with serious injuries should go to A&E but it should be a place for emergencies not the first place to go when faced with a minor ailment. 'Our analysis clearly shows a substantial number of visits to A&E could be better managed in a local pharmacy. This would be more convenient for patients, who could be treated in minutes on their doorstep and save substantial time and money in one of the busiest parts of our NHS.' NHS England is trying to pay pharmacists to do more as the Government pushes for the health service to treat people closer to their homes. Commissioning pharmacies to care for more ailments could also reduce the burden on overstretched GPs. The NHS Pharmacy First scheme means people can now be seen there for several common ailments; earache, sore throats, sinusitis, shingles, impetigo, urinary tract infections and infected insect bites and stings. But new analysis shows people are still turning up in A&E for these conditions. This included 18,000 patients with infected insect bites and 196,000 urinary tract infections. The NPA is calling for much greater awareness of Pharmacy First to encourage greater usage of chemists as a first port of call for certain health conditions. It is also calling on the UK Government to include additional conditions in England, such as constipation, diarrhoea and certain bacterial skin infections, to bring it into line with the Scottish government which runs the NHS there. It comes a week before the launch of the Ten Year Health Plan. Henry Gregg added: 'The Government has a once in a generation opportunity to use the Ten Year Plan to turbo charge the role of community pharmacies who, properly funded, have a vital part to play in creating a neighbourhood health service. 'Investment in more clinical services in pharmacies will not only help to end the 8am scramble for a GP appointment but also help get patients out of hospitals and into the community. 'Pharmacies still face considerable funding pressures which need resolving and investment in them is key if the government are to shift care to people's local communities.' Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England clinical director for emergency care, said: 'The upcoming 10-Year Health Plan will see a shift of care from hospital to the community and we want the public to be aware of all the services available, so they don't always feel they have to go to A&E. 'Unless it's an emergency, your first port of call should always be calling NHS 111 or using 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place – whether that be your local pharmacy, a walk-in centre, or clinical self-help advice. 'By ensuring everyone is using the right service for them, more people will be seen faster in the most appropriate place, and importantly vital life-saving A&E services will be kept for those patients who need it the most.'
Daily Record
20 hours ago
- General
- Daily Record
Panicked Scot unable to call 999 during Three mobile outage
The mass outage left David Henry helpless as he drove 30 miles to his mum's home unable to get in contact with anyone about why she needed an ambulance. A Scots man says he was unable to contact his elderly mother or emergency services after spotting an ambulance outside her home via a security camera, due to a major mobile network outage. David Henry, a freelance TV producer, was alerted to potential trouble at his mother's home in Methil, Fife, when he received a motion notification from a camera installed at her address. His mother, who has Alzheimer's, had reportedly flagged down a passerby to call for an ambulance. When Mr Henry checked the live feed, he saw paramedics attending the scene. He attempted to call her landline but was unable to connect due to a network outage affecting customers of the mobile operator Three. According to Mr Henry, calls to emergency services also failed to connect as he drove 30 miles from Edinburgh to her home. 'When I got there, the ambulance had just left,' Mr Henry told Edinburgh Live. 'I went to A&E assuming she had been taken there but there was no sign of her.' He added: 'I was waiting for two hours with no idea where she was or what happened. Eventually they phoned the ambulance service from A&E for me and discovered they had dropped her off at a day care place.' Three experienced a significant outage on Wednesday, June 25, leaving customers across the UK unable to make or receive calls, including to 999. Mr Henry said he was unable to make any calls, even to emergency services, as he tried to determine what had happened. 'She flagged someone down to call an ambulance which visited her home. I have a camera which sends me alerts to my phone as I'm her carer and keep an eye on things,' he said. 'I tried to phone her. I couldn't make any calls and thought it was engaged.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. After speaking with a passerby via the camera app, he confirmed that the phone had been placed back on the hook. 'I tried again and it still wouldn't work so I dropped everything and jumped in the car,' he continued. Mr Henry also said: 'I tried to dial 999 at her house to find out where she was and I couldn't even do that. That is a very serious service error.' According to Mr Henry, paramedics were also unable to reach him to discuss his mother's medical history and care needs. He only received voicemails and missed call notifications the following morning, after the network issue began to resolve. '999 is always meant to work, whether you've got credit on your phone or not. This was a complete failure and there is no excuse for it. These systems are meant to be backed up,' he said. 'This is a very serious licence failure so I hope Ofcom take this seriously.' A spokesperson for Three said: 'We're sorry that Mr Henry couldn't use our network on Thursday. While outages of this nature are rare, we understand the impact they can have and are doing everything we can to ensure it doesn't happen again.' It is understood Three is investigating why Mr Henry's emergency calls were not rerouted to alternative networks, as required. Data reportedly shows that 999 calls continued to connect in normal volumes on the day, though Mr Henry's experience suggests potential gaps in that fallback system. A spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed: 'We're aware that Three has experienced problems with its network, and we're in contact with the company to establish the scale and cause of the problem as soon as possible. Phone networks must take appropriate and proportionate measures to reduce the risk of—and prepare for—potential outages. Where we've found failures to do so, we've shown we'll take action.'
Edinburgh Live
a day ago
- General
- Edinburgh Live
Three 'sorry' as Edinburgh man 'unable to dial 999' after mum goes 'missing'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An Edinburgh man who saw an ambulance outside his mum's house via his video camera was unable to call her or the emergency service due to a mass network outage. The issue with Three's mobile network sparked chaos across the UK as customers were unable to make or receive calls throughout the day on Wednesday, June 25. David Henry was alerted to a possible incident at his mum's home in Fife when an alert went off on his phone. He then clicked on his camera app and saw an ambulance crew outside her address. David, a freelance TV producer, feared the worst as his elderly mother has Alzheimer's and immediately tried to call her landline. He also spoke to a cyclist via his video camera who his mum flagged down to call for an ambulance. However, due to the network outage, none of David's calls would connect as he got in his car and drove 30 miles from Edinburgh to Methill. When he arrived, the ambulance had just left his mum's house. David frantically tried to call 999 to find out what had happened and where his mum had been taken, but he claims calls to the emergency services also would not connect. (Image: Supplied) At the same time, the paramedics were also trying to get through to David to find out details of his mum's condition and medication. David eventually drove to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy where he assumed she had been taken. After waiting for two hours, he was still in the dark about where his mum was or if she was hurt. After being approached for comment a spokesperson for Three apologised the network was not accessible. It is understood they are also urgently investigating why none of David's calls to the emergency services were connected through an alternative network. Speaking to Edinburgh Live David said: "She flagged someone down to call an ambulance which visited her home. I have a camera which sends me alerts to my phone as I'm her carer and keep an eye on things. (Image: Supplied) "I saw that and tried to phone her. I couldn't make any calls and thought it was engaged. I eventually spoke to a man through the camera itself and he said the phone is back on the hook can you try again. "I tried again and it still wouldn't work so I dropped everything and jumped in the car. By the time I got there I just missed the ambulance so I went to A&E assuming she had been taken there but there was no sign of her. "I was waiting for two hours with no idea where she was or what happened. Eventually they phoned the ambulance service from A&E for me and discovered they had dropped her off at a day care place. "I had an extremely stressful day thanks to this. I tried to dial 999 at her house to find out where she was and I couldn't even do that. "That is a very serious service error. I got all the messages and missed calls through this morning (Thursday). Indeed the ambulance did try phone me to discuss her medical needs." David raised serious concerns about those who were in need of an ambulance on Wednesday and were unable to get through. It is understood Three is urgently investigating why David's 999 call was not rerouted to another network as call data on Wednesday reportedly indicated a normal amount of calls to the emergency services were connected successfully. A spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed it is in contact with Three to establish the scale and cause of the problem. David continued: "I went in to A&E and they just said she wasn't on the system so I was there two hours getting more and more wound up. I was thinking 'well where could she be?' "It was a terrible two hours. Of course mum doesn't remember anything about it and thankfully she wasn't injured. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "999 is always meant to work, whether you've got credit on your phone or not. This was a complete failure and there is no excuse for it. These systems are meant to be backed up. "I phoned my friend as I was jumping in the car and that worked on WhatsApp. She then told me it's all over the news there is a mass outage. This is a very serious licence failure so I hope Ofcom take this seriously." Last year Ofcom fined BT £17million for being "ill-prepared" to respond to a failure of its emergency call handling service in 2023. In June 2025 BT experienced a network fault that affected its ability to connect 999 calls between 6am and 5pm. During this time nearly 14,000 call attempts were unsuccessful. A Three spokesperson said: 'We're sorry that Mr Henry couldn't use our network on Thursday. While outages of this nature are rare, we understand the impact they can have and are doing everything we can to ensure it doesn't happen again." An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Phone networks must take appropriate and proportionate measures to reduce the risk of - and prepare for - potential outages. Where we've found failures to do so, we've shown we'll take action. "We're aware that Three has experienced problems with its network, and we're in contact with the company to establish the scale and cause of the problem as soon as possible."
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
Why can't Brits resist behaving badly with meltdowns on holiday?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video We'll say it before you do: Not all Brits. Of course, not every British person will be leaping off balconies into Spanish swimming pools, and then into A&E. Many of us are boring enough to be content with a book on a sunlounger, a sandcastle, and a (singular) Aperol Spritz in a quaint little cafe. But there's a reason we immediately got the blame for a viral video of holidaymakers bashing each other with pool chairs, even if the hotel hasn't commented on what happened yet. So why it is that 'Brits abroad' has become such a well-known phenomenon? Zoe Adjey, a senior lecturer in hospitality and tourism at the University of East London, told Metro that the main culprit is, surprise surprise… alcohol. Most people don't start singing loudly, taking their clothes off, brawling or 'balconing' while sober – but it's not simply a case of more free time to drink on holiday. When we're on holiday, alcohol is often much cheaper, especially in Spain and Greece, because there's less tax on it, Zoe said. 'So getting drunk is an awful lot cheaper, and then you have all inclusive holidays, and packages into bars. You can buy a tag for €20 and get three drinks, which we don't have in this country because we're now heavily legislated – we can barely do a two-for-one deal on an alcoholic beverage in the bar these days.' Have you ever lived up to the sterotype? Resorts such as Torremolinos, Magaluf, and Mykonos are popular party destinations, but the Brit Abroad can be found anywhere there's a stag or hen do outside our borders. They can even be seen on the aeroplane before arriving, such as when a British man tried to storm the cockpit on an EasyJet flight to Greece after drinking a bottle of Scotch, or when passengers cheered as a drunken woman was escorted off a flight to Egypt by police. The 'airport pint' is seen as a holiday milestone, even if it's at 6am. Once we arrive, celebrations often continue with the same spirit… though some might switch to vodka. In many areas, there is a culture of encouraging people to drink a lot from bar owners and holiday reps, because it is seen as a sign they are enjoying themselves, Zoe said. In the UK, a drunk person is likely to be told to leave due to restrictions on serving them, but the same may not apply overseas, meaning people continue spending their money on shots and lager until they're ready to become a national stereotype. The consequences of boozy behaviour can be much worse than an altercation by the pool or a lost wallet. 'At weekends in high season, emergency departments can resemble a war zone sometimes,' Zoe said. 'A lot of people having to be rehydrated, vomiting, and with broken bones. Everybody thinks they can climb a bollard or a wall.' She said the extra demand on health services from tourists with heatstroke, alcohol poisoning, or bruises from falling though railings is so severe that some strips where bars and restaurants are clustered have paramedic stations set up in the street. Meanwhile, some health impacts are less immediately obvious, such as coming home with a sexually transmitted infection, or even an unplanned pregnancy. Being abroad doesn't mean you won't get arrested, either. Last year, British tourists on a stag do in Majorca were told to pay £850 if they wanted their passports back after a brawl at a beach club which went viral. The consequences can even be tragic, and there are sadly too many headlines of people dying after falling from balconies, or drowning in the sea. Georgina Sturmer, a BACP-regulated women's counsellor, told Metro there are psychological reasons we may be more eager to let loose away from home. 'Our working lives are so busy and stressful, and they've also become very unbounded,' she said. 'That idea of being able to come home from work and escape just doesn't exist anymore.' We are also constrained in terms of behaviour at work, such as not being able to wear swim shorts or a bikini all day, and generally trying to be professional. Being in a foreign country, with no early alarm warning you off cocktails at 2am, can mean the brakes are off – especially if on holiday with friends, meaning family responsibilities have been left at home as well. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'I often talk and write about online disinhibition, which is when we do things and say things online that we wouldn't in real life,' Georgina said. 'There's also something we refer to as situational disinhibition, which is when we are in a different place.' When we leave situations where we feel we 'need to keep it together,' there's sense that we can finally 'let loose', which may not always be pretty. Georgina warned the sense of freedom we feel on holiday can be an illusion, however. 'Gone are the days of 'what happens on holiday, stays on holiday': We might feel we can do whatever we want, but the reality is that everything can be captured, recorded and shared, and that presents a risk.' Ultimately, your post-holiday hangover could not just be about drinking too much, but 'having to cope with the recorded consequences of what we've been up to.' You might even end up in this newspaper. The stereotype of pissed Brits on their hol might soon die out though, according to Georgina, becoming associated more with raucous pensioners than the 18 to 30 crowd. 'Groups of younger people are prioritising wellness, and so I wonder as that generation gets older if that picture will change, when people are going on holiday and they're prioritising things like sleep and exercise and fresh air and cultural experiences.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'Sunbed wars' is one of the most notorious motives for anger on holiday, even with no alcohol involved. It might sound silly to be so territorial over a lounger, but Georgina can understand why the issue gets people's backs up. 'Claiming your sunbed is like a symbol of your real estate on holiday, isn't it? It's almost like it has that power to make or break each of your precious holiday days,' she said. 'It becomes this symbol of satisfaction – like, 'my day is going to be good, because I've managed to get the fabulous sunbed by the pool'. 'So if if that hasn't worked out for me and I've got up at 5am and they're already taken, then that might have an impact on my mood for the day.' In short, yes, but in places like Spain and Greece where locals live with sunnier weather year round, there's not as much call to cram it all into one week of madness. Germans have historically been most victimised by the sunbed stereotype, and tourism expert Zoe also pointed out that Brits are far from the only nationality to behave badly after boozing overseas. 'I was in Thailand recently and there were Australian students doing similar things. If you go to Florida during Spring Break in in February, it is full of American college students doing the same thing. So it's not just us.' And we also can't entirely blame the drinking culture abroad. If you've ever been on an all-inclusive holiday, you'll know the cocktails are often pretty weak, the beer only comes in half pints, or may even seem suspiciously watered down. Amid widespread protests about overtourism (mainly focused on the loss of housing and resources for locals rather than the tourists themselves), many regions have taken steps to try and reduce the impact of bad behaviour. In Spain, various crackdowns have been introduced, including in Playa de Palma, S'Arenal and Magaluf (all in Mallorca), and the West End of San Antonio, Ibiza. Guests here now have a six-drink limit, with three drinks at lunch, and a further three at dinner, in regions badly affected by disruptive guests. On Magaluf's infamous strip, pub crawls have also been banned. In Gran Canaria, beachgoers could be fined up to £2,500 for a variety of misdemeanours ranging from collecting shells to putting up an umbrella for shade or having public sex (they did not specify whch would result in the biggest fine). And in Malaga, signs have been put up saying 'Dress completely' as part of the city council's campaign to encourage Brits to keep their tops on in public. More Trending Still, whatever rules are put in place, we're always going to be tempted to overindulge on our hard-earned holiday. As Zoe points out: 'You're not wearing the same clothes you would normally wear. You've got less responsibilities… You're staying in a hotel, with somebody coming in and washing your bathroom every day and making your bed. 'Everything's a lot more relaxed, and that, plus meeting new people and wanting to impress your friends, does lead to quite bad behavior.' She said her best way around this was to ask her students which dodgy areas they were booking flights to – and then avoid them. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: A gunman massacred tourists on a beach. Ten years later, people are coming back MORE: Glass roof collapses onto passengers at Majorca's Palma airport MORE: Severe delays on London Underground District and Central lines due to 'faulty train'
