Devon Doctors amongst UK's best

Patients have again recognised Devon Doctors as one of the country’s leading providers of out-of-hours [OOH] GP care.

The results of NHS England’s latest GP survey rank the OOH care it provides in South Devon and Torbay as the eighth best in the country, while North East and West Devon, which includes Exeter, ranks 10th of the 214 areas assessed.

The Exeter-based organisation has been a regular fixture in top 10 nationwide providers over the course of the past decade.

What is more, across the two areas 87 per cent of those surveyed said they had confidence and trust in their clinician – a figure which could be bettered in only nine other areas and none in the southern half of the country. Nationwide 79.1 per cent of patients reported that they had faith in their clinician.

Seventy one per cent of respondents said that the time it took to receive care from Devon Doctors was ‘about right’, compared with just 58.9 per cent across the country as a whole, while 85 per cent said it was ‘easy’ to contact the OOH service, as opposed to 74.5 per cent nationwide.

“We attach huge importance to the satisfaction of our patients and are thrilled they have given us such a glowing endorsement,” enthused chief operating officer Ian Parsonage.

“It’s good to rank highly in any kind of survey but it’s especially good to rank so highly in one which is informed by the opinions of thousands of people who have used our service and which is widely regarded as the most accurate measure of excellence in the OOH sphere.

“What is more, we have attained this level of excellence with a per-patient cost that is less than the national average and our rate of referrals to hospitals is one of the lowest on the country.

“At the same time, there is no room for complacency – we can always do better and, rest assured, we will be doing everything in our power to ensure we perform even better in the 2015 GP Patient Survey.”

The chairman of Devon Doctors, Dr Bruce Hughes, a practising North Devon GP, said: “As a social enterprise, unlike a great many OOH providers, Devon Doctors is not motivated by the pursuit of profit and, clearly, this is borne out by these findings, which also reflect the hard work, commitment and dedication of our staff, who strive to provide a safe, high quality OOH service at all times.”

Devon Doctors is a social enterprise owned in partnership by every GP service in the county. It is commissioned by NHS North, East, West Devon CCG and NHS South Devon and Torbay CCG to provide OOH GP care to 1.2 million people across the county.

Source: http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3423/Out-...