OXFORDSHIRE’S out-of-hours GP service has been rated good by the national health watchdog after making a string of improvements since its previous inspection.

However inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said concerns still remained over the handling of medicines, tracking blank prescriptions and staff training.

The service, which is run by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, improved its overall rating during the focused inspection in March.

The service had previously been rated as requires improvement, following an inspection in November 2016.

The GP out-of-hours services cover around 660,000 patients across the county with more than 10,000 patient contacts every month.

Inspectors visited three of the six county sites from which the service operates to look at whether it was safe, effective and well-led.

The sites visited were the Oxford City and Bicester out-of-hours services run out of the East Oxford Health Centre and Bicester Community Hospital, and also the service's corporate headquarters at Littlemore Mental Health Centre.

Two of the measures, safety and effectiveness, were rated good, while the well-led measure was rated as requires improvement.

The report, published in June, said previous breaches of regulations had been ‘reviewed’ and improvements made.

Inspectors noted an increase in staff provision, while cleaning schedules and spot checks had also been improved.

However, there were still some areas that had not been completed or fully embedded, according to the inspectors’ report.

A ‘controlled drugs order’ book at Oxford City had not been completed properly, prompting bosses to consider ordering deliveries to other sites where proper protocol was followed.

Processes for monitoring and tracking blank prescriptions were also inconsistently applied at the site.

Lapses in DBS checks for some GPs and chaperone training for drivers and reception staff were evident.

The trust was told it must now improve the service's leadership ‘in accordance with the fundamental standards of care’, while continuing to make further improvements in staffing levels and staff training.

A spokesperson for Oxford Health said: “We would like to thank all of our staff members for their hard work.

“Their efforts have been recognised by the CQC, who have rated the care provided by our out-of-hours GP service as good, and providing a safe and effective service to our patients.

“We will continue to work on the areas highlighted by the CQC to make our service even better.”