Out of Hours Services - Gloucestershire

14/01/2005

"Based on feedback from patients and the numbers of patients receiving the care and treatment they need, we believe that overall the service is working well.

Between Friday 24th December 18.30 hrs and Wednesday 29th December 08.00 hrs the service dealt with over 3,584 calls. There were 1,854 visits to Primary Care Centres (PCCs) and 395 patients received a home visit (county-wide figures).

During the New Year period (Friday 31st December 18.30 hrs to Tuesday 4th January, 08.00 hrs) no difficulties with the phone system were reported and 2,863 calls were made to the service. A total of 325 home visits were carried out by the mobile doctor service and 1,404 calls resulted in patients visiting PCCs (county-wide figures).

We are finding that the majority of patients accessing the Out of Hours Service are receiving the care and treatment they need by visiting the PCCs and there is a visiting service for those patients who are confined to bed and for medical reasons are unable to visit a PCC.

During the Christmas and New Year period there were 720 out of hours home visits made by the mobile doctor service. Healthcare staff arrived to see patients as soon as they could and we are working hard to improve response times still further.

We are only aware of some temporary difficulties with the phone system during the Christmas period (December 27), which were resolved promptly. Staff dealt with thousands of calls, treated hundreds of patients in primary care centres and carried out hundreds of home visits.

This is traditionally the busiest time of year for Out of Hours services and GPs and nursing staff deserve great credit for their professionalism and tremendous hard work during this period.

The PCT will closely monitor and review how well the service is working. If staffing levels need to be adjusted they will be. Patient safety and the quality of care provided will not be compromised."