§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) who assesses the quality control of the out-of-hours Health Call service for Medway-Swale; [104692]
(2) what was the average call-out time for the Health Call service for Sittingbourne and Sheppey in the last year for which figures are available; [104694]
(3) how many on-call doctors there are for Sittingbourne and Sheppey in the out-of-hours Health Call service. [104693]
§ Ms StuartSeventeen doctors are registered with Health Call, which covers the out-of-hours service for Sheppey. The average call out time is just under one hour and everyone is seen within two hours.
All 28 General Practitioners in the Sittingbourne area are registered with Medway Doctors On Call (MedDoc). Call-outs are assessed by a nurse triage and are prioritised according to clinical need.
The patient's GP is responsible for ensuring the quality of care for the patient. Complaints can be made about out-of-hours either directly to the out-of-hours service or via the patients GP. GPs have a contract with the out-of-hours service to provide a certain quality of care. Any complaints are managed through the National Health Service complaints procedure. Where the complainants are not happy with the response they receive through local resolution they will be given the opportunity to write to the local health authority for an independent review.