Out-of-hours GP will be telephone first

The out of hours GP service in Renfrewshire will continue to operate from the Royal Alexandra Hospital with a telephone-first approach, NHS chiefs have confirmed.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the approach, which has been in place at the Paisley hospital for some time, would now be permanent following approval at a recent NHS board meeting.

In a statement issued after the vote, health chiefs said the telephone first model would be supported by home visiting and access to one of five primary care emergency centres for those who need to be seen face-to-face.

For those living within the Renfrewshire Heath and Social Care Partnership area, that centre will be the RAH.

As part of the arrangement transport will be offered to every patient to attend an out of hours appointment if required, free of charge.

The NHSGGC board decision follows a formal engagement process which saw thousands of people give their views on the future of the service in Renfrewshire and neighbouring local authority areas.

Dr Kerri Neylon, OBE, Deputy medical director for primary care, at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said:“Following four years in business continuity and significant service redesign with resultant improvements in stability and effectiveness, and increasingly positive patient feedback, we’re confident the service effectively meets the needs of our patients, increasing accessibility and offering more ways than ever before to engage with out of hours GP services.

“I’d like to thank our colleagues who have worked so hard to make the changes and support the development of a robust, safe and sustainable service.

“I’d also like to thank everyone involved in the engagement process, including community groups, local clinicians, political stakeholders, and most importantly, patients and the public for their contribution.”

There was strong support for the model in Renfrewshire. More generally 67 per cent of the 2,923 respondents to the survey said they were in favour of the model; that grew to 76 per cent amongst those who had used the service.