Doctors at NHS Barnet prepared to make improvements to 'poor' out of hours GP care (From Times Series)

Doctors at NHS Barnet prepared to make improvements to 'poor' out of hours GP care

2:46pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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HEALTH bosses have said they are prepared “to make improvements” to out-of-hours services after a patient survey placed them thirteenth worst in the country.

Responding to the figures obtained by the Patients Association, which show almost a fifth (18 per cent) of patients who use the services rated them as “poor” or “very poor”, a statement from NHS Barnet said they were committed to providing the best possible services to the community.

It added that regular meetings are held with out-of-hours providers to ensure they meet national quality requirements based on clinical quality, patient experience and response times.

Doctors also said the just over half of the respondents to the Government survey rated the service “good” or “very good” in the borough, and a 2009 survey conducted in-house showed 93 per cent of patients said they would use the out-of-hours care again.

The statement said: “NHS Barnet recognises the importance of providing high quality Out Of Hours (OOH) primary care services to our patients.

“NHS Barnet values patient feedback and believes this is an instrumental tool in finding out what our patients want and need from their local health service.

“NHS Barnet is committed to ensuring that local health services are of good standard and accessible to our patients.

“Where necessary, we will make improvements to services if this proves beneficial to patients. We are confident that our OOH primary care service providers are delivering a quality health care service that meets the demands of the local public.”