Health Minister, Mike O’Brien, has announced that GPs providing out of hours care in England will be subject to tighter controls and more robust skills and knowledge testing.
Together with stronger national standards, it is hoped that these measures will improve out of hours services. The measures follow a report, General Practice Out of Hours Services, published by the Department of Health. The Department has accepted all of the report’s 24 recommendations and expects all Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to act on them as a matter of urgency. PCTs have already been issued with interim guidance to assist them in complying with their obligations to ensure all doctors admitted onto their list of approved out of hours GPs have a satisfactory knowledge of English. Other measures will include the production of a model contract for PCTs to use when procuring out of hours services. PCTs will also be expected to regularly review their performance management arrangements for their out of hours GP services, ensuring they are robust and fit for purpose, while Strategic Health Authorities should also oversee how PCTs manage the performance of out of hours GP providers. Mike O’Brien said: “It is unacceptable for any Trust to fail to meet its obligations on safety and quality of care. By April 2012 every provider of GP healthcare, including out of hours providers, will need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission and will be subject to checks on compliance.”
