UNDER-pressure GP out-of-hours services in Wales can be transformed with five ‘essential and achievable steps’, that should be taken by the Welsh Government and health boards.

That is the conclusion of an action plan - Meeting Urgent Needs: Improving Out-of-hours Services in Wales - published by the Royal College of General Practitioners in Wales (RCGP Wales).

It believes the service needs: More call handlers, to ensure patients can access the services they need; better use of a wider primary care team; better use of technology; clearer national guidance for staff; and measures to address the wider issues facing general practice.

Reports from the Board of Community Health Councils in Wales, and the Wales Audit Office, have highlighted weaknesses, and Dr Rebecca Payne, who chairs RCGP Wales, said: “Patients’ needs don’t stop when practices close but evidence is mounting that accessing out-of-hours services is too difficult.

“GPs are going above and beyond to try and make things work, but the support to deliver services simply isn’t there and patients are feeling the effects.

“The recommendations in our plan are essential, but also achievable.

“Call handlers should be relatively simple to recruit, they are trained to follow clinically developed pathways and increasing their number would deliver a clear benefit. Patients being unable to access services is a waste of their time and diverts demand to other areas of the health service.”