When a patient calls 111, an operator - who is trained in the same way as a 999 operator - can send out an ambulance, putsomeone straight through to a nurse, book an out-of-hours GP appointment, or direct the caller to a pharmacist or dentist.
After sentencing, PDP director Roger Green said he and his colleagues had been "betrayed" and nearly putout of business by someone considered to be a "trusted colleague and personal friend".