GP Out of Hours Services

I brought up the question of GP Out of Hours services in the Assembly yesterday, as we have had a number of cases raised with us by constituents over the last year, though fewer recently. It's a regular for my meetings with the Local Health Board in any case. Sensibly, they have put their supplier on a relatively short contract, which they can review. Here's the exchange with the Health Minister:

Leighton Andrews: Do you accept that many of us are, from time to time, fielding complaints from constituents about out-of-hours services? Indeed, I will certainly be raising those complaints with my local health board when I next have a meeting with it. Do you agree that it is essential that local health boards strike tough deals with out-of-hours contract providers, and that they keep those services under constant review?

Brian Gibbons: There is a fairly strict list of requirements under the new out-of-hours contract, which, as I say, probably did not exist under the old out-of-hours contract. The general medical services contract for out-of-hours provision was not very prescriptive in the past. There are now clear standards against which we can measure performance, and we in the Assembly, and our regional offices, are managing this carefully to see that those improvements continue.