Archived: Scunthorpe General Hospital GP Out of Hours Unit

Updated 2 November 2017

Core Care Links is a not for profit organisation formed in 2010 to provide out of hours service at the Scunthorpe General Hospital, Cliff Gardens, Scunthorpe DN15 7BH.

The service has five directors who are all local GPs working across North & North East Lincolnshire. There is a chief operating officer, a service manager, operational supervisor, operations coordinator and two operational administrators and a pool of 80 sessional contracted local GPs. The service supports the training of local nurses.

• The Out of Hours service provides access to GPs when a patient’s registered practice is closed. All the Out of Hours GPs that work within the service, including the directors, are local practising GPs with a thorough understanding of local services and care pathways. The Out of Hours service is supported by a nurse and a reception team.
• The service is provided to the registered population of North Lincolnshire (approximately 168,000), to patients who are temporarily resident or visiting the area, and non-registered patients who reside within the area.

The Out of Hours service operates 6.30pm – 8am Monday to Friday and 8am – 8am Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays. Patients accessed the Out of Hours service by contacting NHS 111 or referral from Accident and Emergency. The location was within a local hospital.

Updated 2 November 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Scunthorpe General Hospital GP Out of Hours Unit on 24 August 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 performed well against the National Quality Requirements (performance standards).

• 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 staff access to patient records. The out of hours staff provided other services, for example the patient’s GP and local hospital, with information following contact with patients as was appropriate.
• 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 patient experience.
• The service had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• 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.

The area where the provider should make improvement is:

• Develop a system to obtain greater feedback from patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice