National Review of GP Out of Hours Service - Health Service ...

It may be more appropriate to utilise excel for this section if the service quantum is diverse,
and staffing and funding information is available.
The National Business Support Unit will build up a portfolio of templates and these will be
available for distribution.
Service Outcomes
This section needs to indicate the anticipated outcomes that the service will deliver so that
they can be monitored and evaluated. This is on the basis that there needs to be an increasing
emphasis on results i.e. outcomes.
Do you have a Framework in Place to Measure Qualitative Outcomes? If so please give details.
It should be noted that:
• Cognisance needs to be taken not to marginalise the most disadvantaged or difficult cases
in order to achieve better outcomes.
• Initial intermediate outcomes e.g. number of persons signing up for training awareness
programmes, may be set out.
The information recorded below should link to Schedule 2 Monitoring of Quality and
Standards
Calls
o 90% of calls to be answered within 30 seconds
o All calls to be answered within 60 seconds
o Introductory message after 15 seconds to reassure caller
o All calls to be prioritised using agreed protocols
o Life threatening conditions to be identified immediately
o Emergency calls to be transferred for triage immediately
o Urgent calls – Triage Nurse to return call within 10 minutes
o Non‐urgent calls‐ Triage Nurse to return call within 40 minutes
o All calls to be triaged using agreed protocols and an appropriate level of care
reached for each patient
Visits
o With a treatment centre or home visit appointment , a face‐to‐face consultation
should commence within the following timescales, after the definitive clinical
assessment
has been completed:
o Emergency: Within 45 minutes
o Urgent:
Within 90 minutes
o Routine: Within 4 hours
Doctor advice
o A routine call passed for doctor advice should be contacted back by the duty doctor
within 40 minutes
Clinica l Audit
o Regular clinical audit of all calls should be carried out on the following basis:
o Call Takers: 1% of calls audited every 3 months for each staff member
o Nurses: 2% of calls audited each month for every staff member
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