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More out-of-hours services needed, charity claimsDate: 16/05/2007 09:26:57
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The government needs to take action to increase access to out-of-hours medical care, it has been claimed.
According to London-based charity the King's Fund, deprived areas of the UK lack adequate out-of-hours access to GPs surgeries.
And, improvements need to be made to ensure anyone urgently needing to see a doctor can do so with a minimum of fuss, it said.
The comments came as Gordon Brown said he was looking at increasing out-of-hours provision and increasing the number of walk-in medical centres around the country if he becomes prime minister next month.
Commenting on the situation, a spokesperson for the charity said the Department of Health needed to take a fresh look at services.
"In some areas, there is a need for greater provision of out-of-hours services than there currently is.
"We certainly believe that things need to be reviewed again and that there needs to be further thought into the provision of out-of-hours services, especially in more deprived areas where apparently there is less provision.
"In terms of the care that's delivered by GPs, it is a priority that more out-of-hours access is given," she said.
According to the new General Medical Services contract, doctors can choose to opt out of providing 24-hour care for their patients.
As such, primary care trusts are now responsible for ensuring all out-of-hours patient care not provided by GPs.
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