Last week I met with the Chief Executive of ABMU Health Board. High on my agenda was the issue of out-of-hours GP services, particularly at the Princess of Wales Hospital. I was pleased to hear that the board were prepared to listen and that common sense can prevail when the right questions are asked. To elaborate, I was taken aback to discover that the out-of-hours GP service did not have the facility to take a simple blood test when indicated. Instead, the patient would be referred to the ‘medical department’. This amounted to the Princess of Wales’ A&E department – an adjacent door in the same building. Being an A&E ward, the staff on duty do not have the same access to a patient’s records as their GP would – the result being that there is a risk that incorrect or incomplete tests end up being performed by staff whose primary role is to treat accidents, emergencies and trauma. A further consequence is that A&E cubicles intended for emergencies end up being occupied by patients requiring routine tests or treatment. Matters are made worse when incorrect tests are taken, which can lead to delays lasting several hours whilst the right tests are ordered.
I asked the Chief Executive whether out-of-hours GP services should, quite simply, always have the ability to do basic blood tests – like a normal GP service. Without this, the service risks being little more than ‘single door’ to A&E, wastefully duplicating work. The Chief Executive agreed to implement my suggestion. To date, only six of the Andrews Report’s suggested 18 changes have been implemented by ABMU, and as a clinician this worries me. We must review, report, reflect and reform at every level, giving us local hospitals that we can all be proud of and have complete confidence in.