§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the safety of care provided by co-operatives and other organisations providing out-of-hours primary care services. [152815]
§ Mr. HuttonPrimary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for ensuring that providers of out of hours care in their area provide a high quality, safe service, through the system of accreditation.
296WAccreditation ensures that providers meet nationally set quality standards, including clinical governance. Providers must report regularly to PCTs on performance, and strategic health authorities performance manage PCTs in their delivery of out of hours services.
All organised providers of out-of-hours services will be accredited by March 2004. Thereafter, they will be subject to re-accreditation at least once every three years, unless an accrediting PCT has grounds to lead it to initiate an earlier re-accreditation. Provider assessment is undertaken by a PCT outside the area that is covered by the provider, to ensure impartiality.
Under the new general medical services (GMS) contract everyone who provides services out of hours, including individuals contracted by the PCT, as well as organisations, will need to meet the national quality standards. These standards are currently under review by an expert group to make them an integral part of GMS and personal medical services contracting.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adverse incidents he estimates occurred in co-operatives and out-of-hours primary care services in each year since 1997. [152817]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation on the number of adverse incidents that occurred in co-operatives and other out of hours primary care services are not held centrally. Primary care trusts (PCTs) and before them, health authorities, are responsible for ensuring that out of hours services are provided to the highest standard. Since October 2002, the performance of all providers of out of hours services have been judged against nationally set quality standards, including clinical governance. Providers must report regularly to PCTs on performance and are re-accredited at least once every three years, unless an accrediting PCT has grounds to lead it to initiate an earlier re-accreditation. Strategic health authorities performance manage PCTs in their delivery of out of hours services.