- More than a quarter of people in UK have not heard of out-of-hours services
- People unsure of how to see GP when they fall ill on evenings or weekends
- Four in ten who did manage to see GP said service was ‘poor’ or ‘dreadful’Â
Sophie Borland, Health Correspondent for the Daily Mail
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More than a quarter of people in Britain have never heard of out-of-hours services and have no idea how to see a GP on evenings or weekends (file picture)
Millions still have no idea how to see a GP when they fall ill at evenings and weekends, MPs warn today.
More than a quarter have never heard of out-of-hours services – a decade after they came in – and the system remains patchy and confusing.
In some areas, four in ten who did manage to find a doctor said the experience was poor or dreadful. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee say the system is too complicated, highly variable and means many patients wrongly end up in AE.
GPs have been able to opt out of providing care at evenings and weekends since 2004 under a Labour-negotiated deal that also saw their average salaries exceed £100,000.
In most areas, the work is subcontracted to private firms which employ local doctors, or locums, from elsewhere in England or abroad.
The firms include Harmoni and Serco, which have been accused of running care on the cheap and employing a single GP or nurse to cover of hundreds of thousands of patients.Â
The MPs’ report cites figures showing that 26 per cent of patients have not heard of GP out-of-hours services – rising to 43 per cent of those aged 18 to 24.
NHS bosses had hoped to make it easier with the launch of the 111 helpline, which is meant to offer advice round-the-clock. Yet 18 months on, a third of patients do not know it exists or do not understand what it is for.Â
MPs also warn that the standards of out-of-hours care vary unacceptably across the country. The worst is Corby, Northamptonshire, where 41 per cent of patients who used services rated them as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
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The report also draws attention to the fact that some GPs are handing out contracts to out-of-hours firms they own shares in.
Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, said: ‘People turn to out-of-hours GP services when they are worried about their own health or that of family or friends, and want urgent advice or treatment.Â
However, the urgent and emergency care system is complex and people struggle to know which is the right service to use.
‘Too many people are unaware of the different urgent care options and of how to contact them. As a result of the confusion, too many go to AE when they do not need to.’
Four in ten people who did manage to find a doctor described the experience as poor or dreadful (file picture)
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘We are worried about patients being seen by GPs who know nothing about them and appear to have little interest in finding out what is wrong with them.Â
It is probably unrealistic to expect a return to the days when family doctors carried out their own night and weekend calls, but at the very least NHS England should be able to demonstrate that patients are receiving safe and effective care.’
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP Committee said: ‘Many GPs are working hard to deliver out of hours to patients but they are being undermined by an increasingly chaotic and underfunded system.
‘With patient demand continuing to rise, especially from an ageing population, this situation is only likely to deteriorate.’
NHS NEEDS £1.5BILLION MORE, SAYS LIBERAL DEMOCRAT NORMAN LAMB
Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb (pictured) said the NHS must be given an extra £1.5billion next year
The NHS must be given an extra £1.5billion next year with a further £1billion a year thereafter, a health minister says.
Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb said this had to be a ‘high priority’ and delaying the issue would only betray patients.Â
The Government will unveil its NHS spending plans in the Autumn Statement on December 3.
Only last month, NHS bosses said they needed at least an extra £8billion by 2020 to meet the demands of the ageing population.Â
Mr Lamb said: ‘Too often politicians take the easy way out and delay big spending decisions in the hope they become someone else’s problem. Doing that would betray patients.Â
‘The NHS needs significantly more money to help trusts adapt to the changing needs of our population and it can’t afford to wait.
‘That’s why securing extra money for the NHS must be a priority for the whole Government.Â
‘A significant amount of that needs to go on improving mental health services, especially for children and young people.’
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