To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) what areas of healthcare could be treated in the community through pharmacies, opticians, dentists and other professional settings; and (ii) what plans he has to facilitate this.

Western Urgent Care (WUC) is commissioned to provide the GP Out of Hours (OOHs) service across the Western area. The GP OOHs service is for people who need urgent medical treatment but cannot wait until their doctor's practice reopens. The local population is encouraged to utilise the service appropriately to meet any urgent health care needs which cannot wait to be seen by their registered practice when it reopens.

The GP OOHs service is available Mon-Fri from 6pm to 8am the next morning, as well as 24 hours at weekends and during public holidays. All Patients can contact WUC via a single telephone number, there are no telephone numbers available to contact bases directly. Patients who contact the service will be triaged by a telephone or video call by clinical staff who could be located in any one of the service’s bases in Derry/ Londonderry, Enniskillen, Limavady, Strabane or Omagh. Many patients can be safely and effectively clinically triaged by either a Nurse Advisor, Prescribing Pharmacist, an Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) or GP. The majority of patients who contact WUC OOHs service do not need to be seen face-to-face. From Apr-Dec 2023, 71% of WUC OOHs patient contacts were given advice by telephone or video call, 25% of patient contacts required a base visit and 4% of contacts required a home visit.

The GP OOH service provided by WUC faces considerable challenges in consistently populating the GP rota, despite best efforts. Reasons for this include the fact that GPs are not contractually obliged to work in GP OOH; shifting attitudes in relation to achieving work life balance and preparedness or willingness of doctors to cover out of hours’ sessions; and busier and more complex day time general practice reducing the inclination or ability of GPs to work additional out of hours sessions. When GPs book to work in out of hours clinics, the majority prefer to work within their local area - close to their own practices and homes.

The majority of clinical staff are retained by WUC on an ‘as and when required’ basis and for the reasons outlined above DoH does encourage the development of a multidisciplinary workforce. Provision of a multidisciplinary workforce allows WUC to meet patient needs and make effective use of the available clinical resource.