Cornwall’s out of hours GP service has been recorded as being one of the best performing in the whole of the south of England, writes Local Democracy Reporter Richard Whitehouse.

The new integrated 111 and out-of-hours service was launched by Kernow Health in November and has been in the top four in the south since.

Latest figures show that in Cornwall 94.5% of calls to the service were answered within 60 seconds. This was the second best behind the Isle of Wight with 95.8%. In comparison in Devon it was just 70.4%.

The service is provided through a partnership between Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, Kernow Health Community Interest Company and Vocare. The telephone side is handled by Vocare while Kernow Health provides the GP out-of-hours service.

Kernow Health chief executive Peter Stokes provided information about the service to Cornwall Council’s health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee.

He explained that Kernow Health was formed in a collaboration between GP practices across Cornwall and said that the model for the out-of-hours service had been modelled on the former Kernow Doc service which operated for many years in the county.

Patients call the 111 number and their needs are assessed by trained call handlers and if the outcome is they need to see a doctor then it is passed to a Clinical Assessment Service (CAS). Calls made in office hours are referred back to their own GP.

The CAS is staffed by nurses, paramedics, palliative care nurses and GPs. When patients get through to this service then a decision is made on whether a home visit is made or whether the patient should be referred to a treatment centre or for urgent assistance.

Mr Stokes told councillors: “The model was designed very much on the old Kernow Doc model. That was based on the idea of getting patients to see a clinician as quickly as possible rather than having someone using an algorithm.”

He added: “In the four months we have been one of the best in the country and the south west. We are meeting all of the targets for people who are calling through.”

Mr Stokes explained that the system had also continued to meet targets at busier times such as Christmas and Easter. He said that over the Easter weekend they received 1,200 calls on the Saturday.

Councillors heard that on a normal week day the service received between 200 and 300 calls a day while on Saturdays that increased to 700 to 800 and on Sundays 600 to 700.

Mr Stokes added that the partnership work which had been done by Kernow Health and RCHT had helped to increase the quality and efficiency of the service.

“We know that if we get this service right it would ease the pressure on the emergency departments at Treliske and Derriford,” he said.

He said that generally the service had seen an increase of 8.5% in the number of calls being handled since it started.

Mr Stokes also explained that the success of the service had led to people having more confidence in the 111 service in general.

He also explained that a new 111 online service is also set to be launched which provides access to all the services which are currently provided on the telephone but through an app.