GPs ‘facing too much competition from private firms over out-of-hours care’

GPs who want to run out-of-hours services in their local areas are being prevented from doing so by current regulations that create excessive competition in this area.

This is according to a new report from the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), which has called for regulations for awarding contracts should be clarified and changes made to enable practices to take back their out-of-hours service without having to go through a competitive tender.

Currently, the royal college believes that GPs struggle to win these contracts from large private companies, despite the fact these firms often have little or no local GP input or involvement with the local community.

According to the RCGP, greater funding is needed to ensure that general practice can deliver out-of-hours care that is more patient-centred, with suggested measures including additional training and better patient data sharing.

RCGP chair Dr Maureen Baker said: "Patient care and safety must never be compromised by cost and smaller providers should not have to face a David versus Goliath struggle for contracts."

Out-of-hours care has been in the spotlight recently due to the government's current efforts to encourage more GP practices to offer extended opening hours during evenings and weekends.