Gathering evidence on Out of Hours Doctor cover concern

The MP for the West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives, Andrew George, is calling upon constituents for information they have about the successes or failings of the Serco Out of Hours GP cover for the region.

Mr George has received much individual casework about the length of time constituents have had to wait for responses to their urgent calls for medical assistance out of hours. It has been suggested that, whereas the service in the past had adequate GP cover, often the west of Cornwall has only one GP covering the whole area from the west of Bodmin.

Mr George said, “I’m keen to hear from local people about their experiences of the service. I often receive assurances from both the PCT and Serco that the service is well run and has excellent outcomes and that targets are met. That doesn’t appear to be the message I am receiving from those using the service on the ground.

“As more than 2/3rds of a 168 hour week are ‘out of hours’, making sure there’s an adequate first line of medical support through the Out of Hours service is clearly essential”.

 

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