13.07.15
Review of NHS 111 a ‘step in the right direction’ – BMA
The British Medical Association (BMA) has welcomed plans by NHS England to review how NHS 111 and GP out-of-hours (OOH) services are procured in the future.
It was revealed last week that NHS England told commissioners to suspend all GP OOH and NHS 111 procurements, regardless of the stage they are in, until September.
Dame Barbara Hakin, commissioning operations director at NHS England, who is retiring at the end of this year, said the halt to tenders will give the national body time to create commissioning standards and a clinical model for a “functionally integrated, urgent care access, treatment and clinical advice service”.
It is expected the new services will essentially join up 24/7 urgent care, NHS 111 and OOH provision.
Dr Charlotte Jones, BMA GP Executive team lead on NHS 111, said that she is pleased that NHS England is reviewing its procurement process, particularly rethinking the separation of the call handling system from GP OOH services.
“A lot of work still needs to be done, but this is a step in the right direction,” she said. “The BMA was raising concerns about NHS 111 before its disastrous launch in 2013 and has continued to have doubts about how the service is being run in some parts of the country.”
She added that while improvements have been made, it is questionable whether NHS 111 has the resources nationally to meet patient demand and whether its call operators have enough training or sufficient support to be able to deal with patients’ health needs.
“Many GPs and doctors in A&E departments remain sceptical that all the cases being referred to them are appropriate,” said Dr Jones. “NHS 111 should be promoting effective, safe care, whether this via a clinician or through self-care, in the right circumstances.”
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