Out-of-hours GP services are on a knife edge, with providers covering some four million patients admitting they have had overnight and weekend shifts over the past year with no GP cover, finds a Pulse investigation.
Some 104 lead out-of-hours commissioners across the UK responded to Pulse’s request under the Freedom of Information Act, with 10 saying there were occasions where patients were left with no GP available during out-of-hours shifts in 2016 due to chronic shortages of staff.
GP out-of-hours leaders say this is part of a ‘worrying trend’, with fewer clinicians available and services often relying on non-medically qualified urgent health practitioners, nurses and paramedics.
Full story in Pulse Today