i-HEART 365 Service - Out of Hours Service

Updated 10 January 2020

Barnsley Healthcare Federation (CIC) operates i-HEART 365 Service - Out of Hours Service which is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide a GP out-of-hours (OOH) service to 250,000 people living in and around the Barnsley area.

The service is contracted by the NHS Barnsley clinical commissioning group (CCG) to provide OOH primary medical services to registered patients and those requiring immediate and necessary treatment in Barnsley and the surrounding area when GP practices are closed. This includes overnight, during weekends, bank holidays and when GP practices are closed for training. The service also operates an in-hours visiting service for people who reside in the area.

Most patients access the out-of-hours service by calling their own GP and the call is automatically diverted to the NHS 111 service or by ringing NHS 111 directly. Those patients who require further advice may receive a telephone consultation, or an appointment or a home visit, depending on their needs.

The service is open seven days a week (including bank holidays) from 6.30pm to 8am each day and is also open from 6.30pm on Friday to 8am Monday.

Both male and female GP’s, nursing staff, clinical advisors, and qualified healthcare professionals are employed. The team of clinicians are supported by receptionists, drivers and a management team who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the service.

The telephone and visiting service is based at Oaks Park Medical Centre, which is also Barnsley Healthcare Federation CIC head office. Face to face appointments are offered to patients at the GP out-of-hours clinic at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust site, Gawber Road, Barnsley, S75 2EP.

The in-hours visiting service operates from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays. For patients who request a same day home visit from their registered GP and meet certain criteria, details will be passed onto the in-hours visiting service to receive a visit from an emergency care practitioner or an advanced nurse practitioner.

Barnsley Healthcare Federation CIC has other locations registered with the Commission which include an extended hours access service and GP practices.

Updated 10 January 2020

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection November 2018 – Good)

The key questions are rated as:

• Are services safe? Good
• Are services effective? Good
• Are services caring? Good
• Are services responsive? Good
• Are services well-led? Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at i-HEART 365 Service – Out of Hours Service on 14, 15 and 16 November 2019 due to registration changes since the last inspection. The service, under their old registration had been rated as inadequate at an inspection in February 2018 but then as good during a follow-up inspection in November 2018.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had good systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are: 

• Clarify the arrangements for accessing palliative care medicines on Sunday evenings until Monday morning and risk assess if a small stock of such medicines should be kept.
• Review the alternative arrangements for faxing prescriptions to pharmacies in order to comply with electronic prescribing guidelines.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care