Make GP service whole, not further fragmented – George

Commenting on news that Serco – the company responsible for the out-of-hours doctor service in Cornwall – is planning to subcontract the clinical services to another company (possibly Devon Doc), West Cornwall MP, Andrew George, said:

“The best thing would be for Serco to simply hand back the keys.  Subdividing and then subcontracting the GP cover will only further fragment of our core health services – something we should avoid at all costs.

“We need to bring our primary care services – especially access to GPs – together; with out-of-hours and in-hours GP services better integrated and for the good of patient care across Cornwall.  These decisions should be made in Cornwall – not an outside company, making the decision in its own interest.”

Mr George is a member of the Health Select and “blew the whistle” on Serco two years ago by reporting concern about service failure to the Care Quality Commission.  The CQC reported last year with criticisms of the service, including that they had manipulated response time data.