Archived: Rotherham and Barnsley Out of Hours

Updated 30 May 2017

Rotherham and Barnsley Out of Hours service provides urgent medical care and advice for 400,000 patients in Rotherham and Barnsley and six GP practices in Sheffield when GP practices are closed. The service is provided by Care UK Clinical Services Limited and operated from two locations Rotherham Community Health Centre,  Greasbrough Road,  Rotherham,  South Yorkshire,  S60 1RY a nd the fracture clinic at  Barnsley District Hospital, Gawber Road,  Barnsley,  S75 2EP.  The administrative base and headquarters is at Rotherham Community Health  Centre.

The staff team includes a  Medical Director, a General Manager,  a Service Manager, team leaders, call handling staff, drivers and GP’s who are supported by a  Regional Clinical Director . The service employs sessional GPs directly and occasionally through an agency. Managerial and administrative staff worked across this service and the equitable access centre which was co-located in the same building in Rotherham.

The opening hours are seven days a week from 6pm to 8am and 24 hours at weekends and bank holidays.

Rotherham and Barnsley patients access the service via the NHS 111 telephone service. Sheffield patients access the service via a direct telephone line provided by their GPs. Patients receive a telephone consultation which may result in advice being offered, an appointment at one of the locations, receive a home visit or referral to another service, depending on their needs. Occasionally patients access the service as a walk-in patient.

Rotherham Out of Hours services see an average of 468 patients per week and Barnsley Out of Hours see an average of 458 patients per week.

Updated 30 May 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Rotherham and Barnsley Out of Hours (OOH) service on 22 and 23 March 2017. Overall, the service is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ care needs were assessed and delivered in a timely way according to need. The service met the National Quality Requirements.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• There was a system in place that enabled the OOH staff to access patient records, . .
• The service managed patients’ care and treatment in a timely way.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• The service worked proactively with other organisations and providers to develop services that supported alternatives to hospital admission where appropriate and improved the patient experience.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. The vehicles used for home visits were clean and well equipped.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The service proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding service:

• A member of reception staff raised concerns with the GPs that a child was a frequent attender. In response, the service had implemented a frequent attender’s process for children aged under 12 years old. This meant the service collated information about frequent attenders at both the walk in centre and the OOH service and reviewed it to identify any possible safeguarding concerns. The staff brought any concerns to the patient's GP attention or to the local safeguarding board.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice