Crisis fear over night doctors

OUT-OF-HOURS GP care for patients in Oldham is faring well despite fears of a national overnight cover crisis.

A new study revealed there is a minimum of six doctors on duty from midnight to 8am every night for the whole of the borough’s 245,000 population.

Two of the worst primary care trust areas identified in the study by a national newspaper were Bolton — with only one out-of-hours GP for 270,000 patients — and Ashton, Leigh and Wigan which had only one GP for 310,000 patients.

The Devon area was best with a minimum eight doctors for a population of 110,000.

Out of 32 trusts, the country-wide average was one GP to answer calls for a population of 142,000.

Family doctors were allowed to opt-out of working nights and weekends in 2004, with many primary care trusts taking on the responsibility.

Shauna Dixon, director of clinical leadership with NHS Oldham, said robust arrangements were in place with Go To Doc for out-of-hours care in Oldham.

She said: “Patient safety is our top priority.

“NHS Oldham has been working closely with contractor Go To Doc Urgent Care for a number of years receiving frequent performance reports, which have indicated improvements in standards to the point where all are consistently met.

“The contractor continues to draw its GPs from local practices who are familiar with the area and the services available to support patients.

“A December, 2009, national benchmarking report showed Go To Doc performs well and offers value for money.”

The daily average for the number of Oldham patients who contact Go To Doc is 15 calls per night between midnight and 8am.

The daily average between Monday and Thursday is 14 calls per night while Friday to Sunday is 18 calls.

A total of 31 per cent of all these patients saw a GP face to face in one of Go To Doc’s overnight treatment centres while 18.5 per cent received a home visit.