Some improvements at Devon Doctors - but still some way to go

The health watchdog says Devon Doctors' NHS 111 and out-of-hours GP services have made some improvements, after being placed in special measures at the end of last year.

An inspection in December by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)concluded that patients were at risk of not receiving effective care or treatment; read Honiton Nub News's report here.

The CQC inspectors visited again in May this year to follow up on some urgent conditions that had been placed on the services. They found that some improvements had been made, but that there's still further work to be done.

Devon Doctors had been told to send the CQC an action plan, within a specified timescale, and this was done. The plan set out how it would ensure there were adequate numbers of suitably qualified, competent and skilled members of staff for the provision of the out-of-hours service and the NHS 111 service. The plan showed how the service intended to assess capacity and resources, and how this would be implemented to meet patients' needs.

After reviewing the action plan, inspectors found the conditions that had previously been imposed had been met, and these have now been removed from Devon Doctors' registration.

As this was a focused inspection (looking at whether specific conditions had been met) the service ratings remain the same, and remain inadequate overall.

The CQC will continue to monitor the service to ensure that the required improvements are made.

The full report from this inspection can be seen here