Out of Hours Service
25/04/2008
Out of Hours Service
Safe service
“The NHS in Gloucestershire is committed to providing our patients with safe and high quality care to meet their needs. Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS), who jointly run the Out of Hours (OOH) service, strive to ensure a timely, efficient and safe service. Overall we believe the service is working well.”
Patient Case
“According to our records and the information provided at the time, the correct procedures were followed, the right actions were taken, including a home visit, and the right advice on taking prescribed medicines was given.”
“However, we would be very keen to talk to the patient about their experience. We value patient feedback and endeavour to use this to improve the service.”
Performance of Out of Hours Service (including Triage)
“There is a good relationship between local GPs and the OOH service, with the majority of shifts being covered by local GPs and nursing staff. The service is managed and staffed appropriately. We have OOH GPs based in various locations all across the county and the Primary Care Centres have close links with the Minor Injury Units and Accident and Emergency.”
“Training has also been important to ensure that staff have good experience of the call management system.”
“The PCT and GWAS are looking at the systems concerning call priority. We have also looked at providing additional doctors for triage during known peak times and to develop the coordination of doctors across the county through identified shift leads.”
Performance on Christmas Eve
“NHS staff worked incredibly hard over the Christmas period to provide safe, timely and effective care for patients. On Christmas Eve, the vast majority of calls to the service were answered within 60 seconds and prioritised by GPs within 20 minutes in line with national standards. However the experience of every patient is important to us and the NHS is striving to improve further the service to patients.”
