Protesters call to give control of care to GPs

Oct 10 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

Christy Millar (far left), demonstrating against UC24 outside the Liverpool Primary Trust headquarters _320

THE families of patients who were let down by out-of-hours GPs yesterday said they feared the lives of a million Merseysiders could be at risk if the service remains in the control of independent organisations.

Speaking at a demonstration outside the headquarters of Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT), lead campaigner Christy Millar called for an independent review into how her acute appendicitis was not spotted by doctors working for Urgent Care 24, which organises out-of-hours GP cover for Liverpool, south Sefton and Knowsley.

Miss Millar organised the protest after the General Medical Council refused to carry out an inquiry into her complaints about the service, known as UC24.

The 21-year-old, from Ellesmere Port, needs a kidney transplant after she spent six weeks in a coma having been rushed into hospital by her family with a ruptured appendix in May, 2006. Two days earlier, she had been told she probably had a stomach bug and to phone back in 24 hours, when she first called UC24 with abdominal pains.

She eventually saw a locum doctor at UC24’s walk-in medical centre in Old Swan, but he gave her an anti-sickness injection and sent her home. Soon after, she was fighting for her life in hospital.

But the GMC says UC24 has no case to answer.

Miss Millar said yesterday’s demonstration was not just about her case and she wanted to publicise issues of safety surrounding out-of-hours care.

She and her supporters wanted to lobby Liverpool PCT to persuade it to put out-of-hours care back into the control of local GP practices.

She was joined in Art House Square by Phil Owens, whose 21-year-old daughter, Amanda, was left fighting for her life in a critical care unit hours after a doctor working for UC24 told her she had tonsillitis.

The service had failed to spot double pneumonia, which result- ed in a blood clot on her lungs.

Miss Millar, who still needs a wheelchair to get around, said:

“We feel that this is an issue of high local and national importance and must be taken into consideration by both the PCT and the Government in its forthcoming NHS review if other people’s lives are not to be put in jeopardy.

“Out-of-hours care should be put back in the hands of local GP practices where it belongs, and telephone diagnosis must be scrapped.”

Former UC24 IT manager Roy McNally said: “This incident has had serious consequences for a young woman at the start of her university career, which will be with her for the rest of her life.”

carolineinnes