Out-of-hours GP plans scrutinised

Concerns over out-of-hours GP services in Suffolk have been raised in reports to a council health scrutiny committee.

Suffolk County Council is looking at the service provided by NHS Suffolk as it prepares to put out the £6m tender to provide out-of-hours care in future.

The council's health scrutiny committee is drawing up a list of concerns to put to NHS Suffolk to improve the service.

The service is provided by Take Care Now (TCN) which faced criticism after a death in Cambridgeshire last year.

Concerns raised

TCN is being investigated by the Care Quality Commission after the negligence of a German doctor working for the service led to the death a patient in Cambridgeshire in February 2008.

Councillor David Yorke-Edwards, the chairman of the health scrutiny committee which is due to meet on 11 November, said: "We are concerned about a number of reports that have appeared where people have not been getting a very good service."

He said the meeting would hear from representatives of NHS Suffolk and look at ways of improving the service.

Another member of the committee, councillor Colin Walker, raised concerns that there were no sanctions against any company failing to perform to agreed standards, except termination of contract.

'Good and efficient'

In another report councillor Tony Goldson said one of the issues raised was that the number of doctors available for call-outs was sometimes "so low many call-outs are not not seen within two hours of a call being received".

Mr Goldson also said that his research had found that essential drugs for severe pain relief were not carried by out-of-hours doctors.

But a report to the committee by NHS Suffolk said a survey it conducted found that many people found the service to be "good and efficient".

Though the same report said some people had complained about out-of-hours staff not speaking good English.

TCN provides cover for health trusts covering East Cambridgeshire and Fenland, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, Essex, Suffolk and Worcestershire.