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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Jenny Foulds

Doctors have their views on troubled Vale out-of-hours service heard

A meeting has been held with doctors to gauge their views on the troubled GP out-of-hours service.

More than 80 people attended the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) meeting last week.

The health board says it is working to improve the service which has been riddled with closures over several years.

Earlier this month, the Lennox Herald told how the facility at the Vale of Leven Hospital was closed on 154 occasions between November 2018 and October 2019,
more than any other single unit.

Meanwhile, across the health board area, it was shut almost 600 times during that period.

A spokeswoman said this week the board is making a number of improvements being actioned with immediate effect.

These include working with GPs to identify and make improvements to the out of hours facilities for both GPs and patients, reviewing patient attendances to manage and reduce walk-ins and introduce patient appointments across all out-of-hours provision.

Chiefs have also committed extra staffing, with interviews taking place this week for a number of salaried GPs specifically for the service.

Susan Manion, chief officer at East Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership, has also recently been seconded to provide senior leadership to the service, based on the recommendations from a review.

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC confirmed the update and said: “Our GPs provide a valuable service for patients who are unwell, both in and out of hours.

“We continue to engage with GPs and other stakeholders in our ongoing work to deliver a sustainable model of GP out-of-hours services.

“We have recently launched a campaign emphasising the need for patients to phone NHS 24 for an appointment with the GP out of hours service because it delivers a better service to patients and reduces delays for other patients.

“We have already seen a drop in the number of patients walking into our GP out-of-hours services.”

For more local news from West Dunbartonshire click here.

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