We're all relying on you, Anita (From Oxford Mail)

We're all relying on you, Anita

7:20am Wednesday 3rd February 2010

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TODAY we put our faith in Anita Higham and the Oxfordshire Link, a community watchdog for our local health services.

NHS Oxfordshire, the primary care trust, has confirmed there are four GPs on duty each weekday night after midnight to cover the entire county.

Some feel it is too few, although the PCT defends the numbers and says the system can cope.

It is disturbing that because doctors have been able to opt out of covering nights and weekends, the taxpayer now has to pay a private company to run a basic NHS service.

The PCT refused to say how much the contract is worth, so we don’t know if it is a significant cost above the old system.

It was similarly not transparent about the nature of the 58 complaints about the out-of-hours service over the past 18 months. It would be interesting to know how many were about waiting times because of a lack of doctor numbers.

That is why we rely on Mrs Higham and Oxfordshire Link.

She promises the Link “is keeping a very beady eye indeed” on the system.

We hope she will ensure the system is not putting anyone’s health at risk.

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