Fresh probe into Liverpool's out-of-hours GP care

Jan 29 2008

LIVERPOOL’S out-of-hours GP service is being investigated by the independent healthcare watchdog for England.

The Healthcare Commission (HCC) appointed an officer to investigate allegations made about Urgent Care 24.

Their inquiry will centre around allegations of breaches in confidential patient information, contravention of NHS prescribing rules, poor prescription security and medical issues surrounding poor patient diagnosis and care.

Last week the ECHO exclusively revealed Merseyside police were investigating the theft of controlled drugs from UC24’s Wavertree base.

UC24 officials admitted quantities of the drug diazepam had been stolen but said they were now working with Liverpool primary care trust to improve drug store security.

The not-for-profit organisation provides health care for more than one million Merseyside patients, and keeps a controlled drug supply in a stored safe that only a limited number of people have the access code for.

UC24 whistleblower Roy McNally sparked the new investigation after writing an open letter to the HCC outlining the fears of himself, local GPs and patients about the service.

He said: “We are relieved that the HCC have decided to mount an independent investigation.

“There are simply too many unanswered questions regarding UC24 and patients have little confidence in their ability. “There are serious concerns which we believe are affecting the standard of care Merseyside’s patients receive.”

The HCC previously investigated claims UC24 may have been wrongly charging patients for their medication.

Last November the organisation was ordered to refund any charges for “immediate medication or necessary care” after ignoring HCC and the Prescription Pricing Division’s guidelines.

A HCC spokesman said the letter was passed on from the operations team to the investigation team and an officer appointed to lead inquiries.

Liverpool and Knowsley primary care trust are in contract negotiations with UC24 to continue to provide their out- of-hours healthcare service for the next three years.

They said the HCC investigation would not affect talks and they hoped to complete contract negotiations “very shortly.”

A UC24 spokesman said: “We have not been informed that any investigation is to take place and there are certainly no formal proceedings in place as far as we know.

“However we will be more than happy to co-operate fully with any inquiry.

“We have nothing to hide.”

He added: “We would like to emphasise that we – as a not-for dividend social enterprise – seek solely to provide the best possible service for hundreds of thousands of local people. “We believe that our management and governance procedures follow best practice and aim for the highest standards. We are confident that any inquiry that might take place will find that to be the case.”