Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust HQ

Updated 24 October 2019

GP out of hours services in Oxfordshire are provided by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. The service covers the total population of Oxfordshire (approximately 774,368 patients). Initial assessment when a patient calls for advice and treatment is undertaken by the NHS 111 service operated by South Central Ambulance Service. Once the assessment has been completed the NHS 111 team can book patients directly into the out of hours service. This could involve direct booking for a visit to one of the six out of hours bases or for a further review by the out of hours GPs. The second stage assessment can result in either a home visit, request to attend one of the out of hours centres or telephone advice. All bases also accepted walk in patients (patients who arrived at the service without an appointment or accessed via NHS 111).

Services are provided from six locations across the county on every day of the year. They are:

• Oxford City Out of Hours base – East Oxford Health Centre, Manzil Way, Oxford, OX4 1XD. This is a dedicated out of hours facility located in a large health centre. It is open from 6.30pm to 8am (overnight) Monday to Saturday and from 8am on a Saturday through to 8am Monday morning. This centre is also open on bank holidays from 8am to 8am the next day.

• Witney Out of Hours base – Witney Community Hospital, Welch Way, Witney, OX28 6JJ. It is open from 6.30pm to 8am (overnight) Monday to Saturday and from 8am on a Saturday through to 8am Monday morning. This centre is also open on bank holidays from 8am to 8am the next day. The out of hours provision is co-located with a minor injuries unit that is also managed by the Trust and accepts walk in patients either directly or via the minor injuries unit.

• Abingdon Out of Hours base - Abingdon Community Hospital, Marcham Road, Abingdon OX14 1AG. At Abingdon the out of hours provision is co-located with a minor injuries unit that is also managed by the Trust and accepts walk in patients either directly or via the minor injuries unit. It is open from 6.30pm to 8am (overnight) Monday to Saturday and from 8am on a Saturday through to 8am Monday morning. This centre is also open on bank holidays from 8am to 8am the next day.

• Henley Out of Hours base - Townlands Memorial Hospital, York Road, Henley, RG9 2EB. This service is co-located with a minor injuries unit which is also managed by the Trust. Nursing and paramedic staff are able to work between both services. The out of hours service is open from 6.30pm to 11pm every weekday and from 8am to 11pm at weekends and on bank holidays. When the base is closed overnight services are provided from either the Abingdon or Oxford City bases.

• Bicester Out of Hours base - Bicester Community Hospital, Piggy Lane, Bicester, OX26 6HT. This site is located alongside a first aid unit also managed by the Trust. The out of hours service is open from 6.30pm to 11pm every weekday and from 8am to 11pm at weekends and on bank holidays. The overnight service for the north of the county is then provided from the Banbury base.

• Banbury Out of Hours base - Horton General Hospital, Hightown Road, Banbury, OX16 9AL. The out of hours service shares this facility with the outpatients department of the Horton General Hospital. It is open from 6.30pm to 8am (overnight) Monday to Saturday and from 8am on a Saturday through to 8am Monday morning. This centre is open on bank holidays from 8am to 8am the next day. The out of hours service is close to the hospital emergency department and accepts patients from this department who require primary care treatment.

We visited Oxford City base and the Corporate services at Littlemore Mental Health Centre during this inspection.

Patients can access information from the service website: www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Updated 24 October 2019

This out of hours service remains rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 28 March 2018 – Good overall. Requires Improvement for providing well-led services)

The key question rated at this inspection:

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced focused inspection at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust - HQ out of hours services on 17 September 2019.

We undertook this inspection to follow up a breach of regulation that was identified in March 2018. We inspected the well led domain during this focussed follow up inspection.

At this inspection we found:

• The provider had reviewed the training provision for chaperoning and safeguarding children. The shortfalls in training in these topics identified at the time of the last inspection had been completed.

• Data showed an improvement in fulfilment of GP out of hours shifts against the provider GP rota.

• The provider had ensured consistency in tracking blank prescription forms.

• Calibration of blood glucose monitoring equipment had been improved to include additional calibration when new test strips were brought into use.

• The audit trail for receipt of Controlled Drugs (CD) into stock at the Oxford City base was now completed.

The provider had completed all the actions they told us they would undertake to become compliant with regulations and we have now rated the provider as good for provision of well-led services.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care