As part of its on-going commitment to design services around the needs of patients, NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is inviting local patients and members of the public to share their views and experiences of local GP out-of-hours services.

The CCG is taking the opportunity to re-specify the service so it fits the requirements of the local population and also to test if the service can be provided more effectively and efficiently.  To do this, the CCG is renewing its discussions with the community and has reopened its survey and conversations with local groups of parents of young children, students and Care Home representatives.

The feedback will be used to help shape decisions about a full re-procurement of the service, along with information gathered last summer when the CCG also held a number of events to understand local opinion.

Dr Andrew Phillips, the CCG’s Clinical Lead for Urgent Care said: “The current out-of-hours service contract expires in April 2015 so this is a perfect time for us to hear about people’s experiences to ensure our specification meets their needs.

“Whilst we know the GP out-of-hours provides a very high standard of service, we are still keen to hear about people’s experiences.

“One key area that we are keen to explore is around the integration of services, particularly between out-of-hours and other urgent care services, and how the overall experience for patients can be improved.

The CCG believes there is an opportunity to improve patient experience and create better value for money. The tender and re-procurement process will give the CCG a chance to specify what the public in the Vale of York want and need and, once in place, help it to ensure services are carefully monitored. A new service is expected to launch in April 2015.

Complete the survery here. The survey closes on the 28 February 2014.

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