Enquiry indicates nationwide gap in monitoring out-of-hours GP services

Source: Care Quality Commission

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Date of publication: October 2009

Publication type: Press Release 

In a nutshell: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) enquiry into the out-of-hours care provided by Take Care Now, reports that it fears PCTs may not be effectively monitoring performance of GP out-of-hours services.  The enquiry was triggered by the tragic case of Mr David Gray, a patient treated by an out-of-hours locum doctor from Germany who died following the administration of 100mg of diamorphine.

Following visits to the five PCTs that commission services from Take Care Now, the CQC found that trusts do not consistently and routinely look in detail at the quality of care.  PCTs must look at details like the quality of clinical decisions, the efficiency of call handling, the adequacy of staffing and doctors’ training in order to rigorously monitor performance.

Length of publication: 1 webpage

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