Out of Hours Care Gives Rise to Concern
Almost one year following the death of David Gray who died following treatment from an out of hours locum GP, Dr Daniel Ubani, concerns are being raised afresh about the standard of out of hours healthcare offered to the public.
Mr Gray sadly passed away in February 2010 after being administered with a lethal dose of diamorphine by Dr Ubani who was carrying out his first GP shift in Britain at the time. Mr Gray’s death was later described as unlawful and the “inexperienced” doctor convicted of gross negligent manslaughter.
In primary care locally, chairman of Wolverhampton Doctors On Call, Dr Tim Crossley recently spoke out against a decision to remove the contract for out of hours primary care services from local GPs who had successfully provided healthcare to the region for 15 years.
The new holder of the contract, Nestor Primecare Services Ltd, subsidiary of Nestor Healthcare Group plc was said to have been awarded the contract due to GP’s lack of “governance arrangements”. It was noted that the decision was nothing to do with the “quality of care” that the local doctors were able to provide. Primecare commented they would seek to employ local doctors “wherever possible”.
In secondary care, as part of a recent report, President of the Royal College of Physicians, Sir Richard Thompson said patients were not “getting the care they deserve” on weekends and during the night in the UK’s hospitals.
Statistics showed the death rate in patients admitted at the weekends was 7% higher than during ordinary working hours. He commented that too many junior doctors were left unsupervised on wards and that experienced consultants were reluctant to work unsociable hours.
With increasing demand placed on out of hours services during the winter months and local hospitals reporting they are at capacity dealing with cases of seasonal illness, those who are concerned that they have received sub-standard care from medical professionals are encouraged to contact the Clinical Negligence Department at Lanyon Bowdler for assistance.