09 February 2010
Statement Regarding West Yorkshire Urgent Care Services
Issued Jointly Between West Yorkshire PCTs and TPP
In 2009 the five West Yorkshire primary care trusts launched a new urgent care service for local residents. The changes to urgent care services followed a major review across the West Yorkshire region. More than 5,000 patients, staff and stakeholders gave their views during a consultation exercise in summer 2007. This feedback was used to shape the new service and deliver improved care to patients.
GPs, nurses and other clinicians continue to play a lead role in managing, monitoring and ensuring the delivery of a safe and efficient service.
The new service means that patients are now offered the following:
- One local number
- A single point of access to the right out of hours services when required
- GP out of hours and dental services
- Dedicated palliative care support
As part of continued evaluation of the service and to ensure the service remains responsive to local needs, we asked 1,200 patients how they rated the OOH service in West Yorkshire. 93% said they were satisfied with the service they received.
The commissioned IT system used by the West Yorkshire urgent care treatment providers is TPP’s SystmOne and is the system of choice in Yorkshire and the Humber Region. Its deployment is in line with the Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) strategic direction.
SystmOne is deployed extensively across the Yorkshire and Humber; in GP practices, community units and child health services. The SystmOne Urgent Care solution for Out of Hours Call Centres and Primary Care Centres is a bespoke solution, designed specifically for use in the Urgent Care setting. TPP worked extremely closely with Urgent Care service providers and clinicians to ensure that the functionality met all the needs of the service, from call handling and triage, to home visits and consultations.
Over 50 urgent care services are now using SystmOne Urgent Care across the UK and TPP are expecting in excess of 100 more to go live this year. Since April 2009, over 544,000 Urgent Care contacts have been recorded on SystmOne. Approximately 240,000 of these benefited from the integrated care that the SystmOne solution already provides to over 15 million patients nationwide, as the full patient record was available at the point of care.
As part of a post implementation review, the West Yorkshire Primary Care Trusts commissioned Dr David Carson, Primary Care Foundation, to review and assess progress against IT system deployment and adherence to the agreed service contracts.
The report did not enjoy consensus amongst the commissioners, providers or TPP. It listed a number of issues that had already been identified by the service; an action plan was drawn up to ensure their speedy resolution. Commissioners, service providers and TPP, are committed to ensuring prompt implementation of the agreed actions, most of which have already been addressed and others are in the advanced stages of resolution.
The report author said: “I am content that the action plan that has been agreed will address all the issues in the report”.
Dr Mark Napper Clinical Lead for Urgent Care, West Yorkshire PCTs said: “TPP have worked enthusiastically with West Yorkshire Urgent Care Services to ensure that SystmOne meets requirements to support the provision of high quality patient care. We are confident that operationally and contractually, robust arrangements are in place to deliver safe out of hours services in Yorkshire.”
Helen Young, Clinical Director and Chief Nurse for NHS Direct, says:
"We strongly refute any claims in the report that patients have been placed at risk of harm. We firmly believe that the service is clinically safe and we are working closely with the commissioners and the other providers of West Yorkshire Urgent Care to continue to improve the service, working to an action plan that was in place prior to the publication of this report.”
