2:13pm Friday 16th May 2008
By Tony Donnelly
PATIENTS in Worcestershire are set to benefit from a brand new and enhanced Out of Hours (OOH) service.
This is the service which operates in the evenings and weekends and provides services for which patients would otherwise contact their GP.
After a formal tendering process, Worcestershire Primary Care Trust has awarded the contract for the OOH service to Take Care Now (TCN) which will take over in July.
Paul Bates, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, said: "This has been a complex formal tendering process.
"From the outset our aim has been to improve the quality of the service and achieve - and eventually surpass - the national standards for out of hours care.
"TCN, which already provides services elsewhere in the country, has clearly demonstrated it can meet our requirements and shares our aim of improving service on a continuing basis.
"As part of the transition towards implementing the new arrangements, we are now in discussion with the existing staff about their transfer to TCN."
The PCT decided to tender for a new service following public demands that the service be improved, and the difficulties the PCT was having in hitting national standards.
The panel which assessed the tenders received included senior GPs, one of whom was from outside Worcester, and two lay advisers from the patients' forum.
David Cocks, Chief Executive of TCN, said: "We are delighted that Worcestershire PCT has chosen TCN to deliver its out-of-hours service. Our dedication to quality of care has meant that patients in other areas are already seeing the benefit of an out-of-hours service that is both innovative and ensures patients needs are met when their GP practice is closed."
Janie Thomas, from the patients' forum, said: "It was really good to be completely involved in the process of acquiring a new Out of Hours provider. There has been patient and public involvement throughout the process which we found very thorough and fair.
"TCN know the county well as they already provide drivers for our out of hours doctors and we are confident that over the next few months they will provide a better overall service."
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