A MAN with stomach disease has spoken of his anger after waiting 12 hours for an NHS helpline operator to tell him to go to see his doctor.

Alex Campbell was suffering from gastric problems at his home in Shoebury, which meant he couldn’t keep down any food or liquids, including his essential medication.

The 62-year-old had been advised by his GP if he began suffering from the symptoms of his condition to call the NHS helpline on 111, as it offers advice on urgent medical concerns.

Mr Campbell claims he called the helpline at 6.30pm on Thursday when he could not take his medication, but did not receive an official response until 6am the next morning.

He said: “I was in a very bad state; I have ongoing treatment and investigations into my gastric problems and am on medication, but on this night I was so bad I couldn’t keep down any food, any water, not even my tablets.

“When I called I was told to expect to be contacted within the next two hours. But this didn’t happen.

“I called again at about 9pm and requested an ambulance, but I was told that was not possible.

“I managed to crush my tablets into a fine powder and put it in my mouth in the hope that some of it would dissolve.

“I went to bed, and had a call at 4.15am telling me my phone number could be wrong, and after that, another call at 6am, where I was simply told to go to my GP.”

Mr Campbell, of Sandpiper Close, said he would not be using the service again and has criticised the team for the lack of response or urgency with his problems.

He added: “I have the utmost respect for the team who man calls behind 999, they are absolutely wonderful, calm, sophisticated and patient.

“This service however, I can’t quite believe I had to wait 12 hours just to be told to see my GP - simply unacceptable.”

“I couldn’t eat, drink or take my own medicine, and I was given no help.”

We approached NHS England and the Southend Clinical Commissioning Group for comment, with both bodies declining stating it was the responsibility of the service provider, IC24.

A spokesman said: "We aim to provide our patients with the best service possible, but if a patient doesn’t feel they have received that we are committed to reviewing the case and providing feedback to all those involved.

"We will review the circumstances of this case and are happy to speak to the patient or meet in person to discuss the case further.”