Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of out-of-hours GP services.
Answered by David Mowat
In October 2015, NHS England published new Integrated Urgent Care Commissioning Standards, which set out how the public will benefit from a 24/7 integrated urgent care service through a single point of entry, including out-of-hours general practice services.
The integrated services will be introduced in phases, to be fully in place across the whole country by 2020. Local clinical commissioning groups will be responsible for commissioning these services. The new Integrated Urgent Care Commissioning Standards will form the basis of new service specifications. NHS England is developing key performance indicators to support providers in delivering these services. The indicators will help to ensure that all patients receive the same standard of high quality urgent care services wherever they live in England.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support is available for people who require transport assistance to reach out-of-hours GP services.
Answered by David Mowat
Out-of-hours general practitioner services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. Patient Transport Services (PTS) for NHS services are for local determination by commissioners, based on eligibility criteria:
Eligible patients are those:
- where the medical condition of the patient is such that they require the skills or support of PTS staff on/after the journey and/or where it would be detrimental to the patient’s condition or recovery if they were to travel by other means;
- where the patient’s medical condition impacts on their mobility to such an extent that they would be unable to access healthcare and/or it would be detrimental to the patient’s condition or recovery to travel by other means; or
- recognised as a parent or guardian where children are being conveyed.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what safeguards are in place to ensure that urgent care services are not overburdened where services are centralised.
Answered by Philip Dunne
All service change should be led by local organisations and clinicians, and be in the best interests of patients.
National Health Service commissioners and providers should work together, with local authorities, patients and the public, in bringing forward proposals that will improve the quality and sustainability of healthcare services.