CQC’s Chief Inspector of General Practice asks people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset to tell him about their GP out of hours service

04 February 2014

CQC’s Chief Inspector of General Practice asks people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset to tell him about their GP out of hours service

England's Chief Inspector of General Practice is inviting people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset to tell him and his inspectors what they think of their GP out of hours services. Their views and experiences will help inspectors decide what to look at when they inspect.

BrisDoc Healthcare Services Ltd, based at Whitchurch, is one of the first to be inspected under radical changes being introduced by the Care Quality Commission to the way it regulates health and social care services. The formal inspection by a team including a GP will start in February.

The Chief Inspector of General Practice, Professor Steve Field, announced in December that CQC would be taking a new approach to its inspections of GPs’ services, with out of hours services a priority. In the first three months of 2014, CQC will inspect 36 out of hours providers.

To ensure the views of the whole local community are properly represented, Professor Field is appealing to people to contact CQC either by telephone, email or online. CQC has organised a public listening event at:

• Monday 10 February, 6.30pm, Bristol City Council, Conference Hall, City Hall, Bristol, BS1 5TR

Professor Field said:

“While we know that many GP out of hours services provide safe, compassionate care, they do face particular challenges. Patients are often unfamiliar to staff, and staff do not always have access to their medical records.

“Often these services have a large workforce where staff may not know each other well. Cases can be complex and urgent and there have also been a number of high profile failings in out of hours services. Because of these factors we believe it is important that we improve how we regulate and inspect these services quickly.

“We want to highlight good practice where these challenges are managed well, but we also want to identify where GP out of hours services are not good enough. These inspections will help us develop a picture of the quality of out of hours services across the country, and will enable us to test our approach.

"Of course we will be talking to the local GPs, as well as the managers and their staff. But it is vital that we also hear the views of patients and public or anyone who wants to share information with us to help us plan our inspection and focus on those things that really matter.”

Anyone who wishes to give their views to the inspection team can do this in a number of ways:

• Online: www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us
• By email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
• By letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA
• By phone: 03000 61 61 61

Professor Field’s new inspection teams will be led by expert inspectors with clinical input led by GPs. The teams will include a CQC inspector, a GP, and a nurse or a practice manager. Teams may also include an expert by experience – someone who uses a GP practice or has a particular experience of care.

The inspection teams will look at how well the service responds to patients’ needs and consider the quality of communication between out of hours care and other local services, including GP practices, care homes and emergency services.

A full report of the inspectors’ findings will be published by the Care Quality Commission.

Ends

For media enquiries, contact the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 / media.team@cqc.org.uk during office hours or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.

Notes to Editors

BrisDoc holds the contract to provide the Out of Hours GP service (after 6.30pm and at weekends) for all of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, a population of 950,000.

CQC is asking people who would like to attend the listening events to fill in an online form at www.cqc.org.uk or call 03000 61 61 61. This will help us with planning for the event, but people are free to turn up on the evening even if they haven’t registered. We’d appreciate it if you could include these details in any coverage as we are keen to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Anyone who is unable to attend the listening event but wishes to give their views to the inspection team can do this by telephone, email or online.

Online: www.cqc.org.uk/public/listening-events

By email: cqcthenextphase@cqc.org.uk

By letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA

By phone: 03000 61 61 61

While the listening events will not be open to the media, we will make sure there are other opportunities for journalists to talk to panel members about the inspection – please contact us and we will set something up for you. The listening event is being held to enable members of the public to share their experiences of care with members of the inspection team. These discussions will take place in small groups, and we want people to be able to talk safe in the knowledge that the confidences they are sharing will be respected.

Further details of CQC's approach is set out in 'A Fresh Start for the Regulation and Inspection of GP Practices and GP out-of-hours Services'

www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/20131211_-_gp_signposting_statement_-_final.pdf