NHS111 and OOH (Out of Hours) Procurement

NHS111 and OOH (Out of Hours) Procurement

NHS England’s Aim = Integrated Urgent Care

NHS England has issued commissioning standards for integrated urgent care. Aim is to provide the public with 24/7 access to urgent clinical assessment, advice and treatment as close to home as possible. This proposes that the NHS111 service be the single point of access into urgent care and that NHS111, OOH services and urgent care services work together to provide a seamless service to patients. The standards suggest setting up a Clinical Advice Service (Clinical Hub) where assessment would be made and advice and treatment given either over the phone or in person. The standards emphasise the importance of integrated working between NHS111 and OOH and all other services. For example, it is recommended that the ambulance service be able to call on NHS111 and OOH when appropriate rather than always sending an ambulance/dealing with the call themselves.

See Commissioning Standards Integrated Urgent Care for more information.

file:///C:/Users/donwed1/Documents/Patients%20Group/NHS111%20procurement/NHSE%20integrtd-urgnt-care-comms-standrds-oct15.pdf

A summary of what is planned for integrated urgent care services is attached.

Local Contract in Hertfordshire (Both CCGs contract together)

Existing contract with HUC (Herts Urgent Care) for NHS111 and Out of Hours services has been extended to 2016 but a procurement exercise will be required for a new contract after that.

Three patient reps from HVCCG are involved in this process: myself, Joan Manning (Watford) and Helen Clothier (St Albans). Helen is acting as the main patient rep for HVCCG on the Steering Group along with a patient rep from East&NorthHertsCCG.

Dental Services – Item to Note

“Dental pain without injury remains one of the highest reasons for calling NHS111.” Currently there is a Dental nurse within the 111 system who can refer patients into emergency dental slots when appropriate. I wasn’t aware this existed and would not have thought of calling 111 for help with a dental problem.

Feedback on NHS111 and Out of Hours services

Any comments or experiences of using the NHS111 and Out of Hours Services gratefully received to help the patient representatives comment on the specification. As this contract is going out to tender, there are confidentiality issues relating to the specification itself. However I will make sure any comments about the service are put forward appropriately.

M Donohue

December 2015