NHS: Out of Hours Service Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Wall of New Barnet
Main Page: Baroness Wall of New Barnet (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Wall of New Barnet's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(11 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberWe have known that out-of-hours care has been in need of reform for some considerable time. The much strengthened commissioning arrangements that we have put in place, including the national quality requirements that I mentioned earlier, will enable that to happen.
The noble Earl will, I am sure, recall the discussion we had just a few days ago about the inspection of patients at home. That discussion was about ensuring that patients at home who were poorly in the evening did not end up in hospital. My noble friend has just indicated the tremendous pressure that all hospitals are under in terms of length of stay because of older people arriving and staying in hospital. If this GP out-of-hours service worked well, we would prevent that. We need to ensure that the accuracy and rigour of that service permeate throughout the whole country.