Significant improvements have been made to Cornwall’s NHS 111 medical telephone service, say health bosses and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In March 2016, the CQC told the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), which runs the service, that action needed to be taken to protect people’s safety.

Inspectors had found that there were often not enough staff to take calls or to give clinical advice.

Following the most recent inspection in December 2016, the CQC says that the service continues to get better – although it is still graded ‘requires improvement’.

During the two-day inspection in December, CQC found that callers were receiving a safer, more effective and responsive service, although performance on call answering and abandoned calls was still below national targets,’ said a spokesperson.