FOI 1672 - Out of Hours GP Information and Population

Response

Date: 14 September 2022

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION – DECISION NOTICE

Dear Sir / Madam,

FOI Reference Number: 1672

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am requesting the following information:

1) The number of occasions in the past 12 months when there were no out-of-hours GPs on shift;

2) What advice was given to patients who sought a GP during the period when none were available;

3) What other staff were available during these occasions to provide assistance to patients;

4) The number of patients who sought out of hours care while there were no GPs on duty in the past 12 months;

5) The number of children who sought out of hours care while there were no GPs on duty in the past 12 months;

6) The number of occasions when an out of hours centre was closed due to lack of staff in the past 12 months;

7) The number of occasions when just one GP has been on duty for an out of hours shift in your area in the past 12 months

8) The total number of patients in your region.

Our response:

Thank you for your email. I can confirm that Derby and Derbyshire ICB do not hold the information that you have requested about Out of Hours GPs, staff levels, practices and patients that have been affected by lack of availability. Some of this information may be held by our Out of Hours provider, DHU Healthcare, who may be contacted as below:
https://dhuhealthcare.com/contact-us/freedom-information

With regards to the number of patients in the region, as at 1 July 2022, which is the most recent information we hold, the number of patients in Derbyshire was 1,112,590.

Further information (dated 2021) on Public Health in the wider East Midlands Region may be found here and might be of interest:
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/static-reports/health-profile-for-england/regional-profile-east_midlands.html

I hope that this answers your queries with the information we currently hold, but if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:

NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB
FOI Team
Scarsdale
Nightingale Close
Newbold
Chesterfield
S41 7PF

Or:

ddicb.foi@nhs.net

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, telephone 0303 123 1113, email casework@ico.org.uk.

Yours faithfully,

Kathryn Jacklin
FOI Officer
Derby and Derbyshire ICB

All information we have provided is subject to the provisions of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015. Accordingly, if the information has been made available for re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL) a request to re-use is not required, but the licence conditions must be met. You must not re-use any previously unreleased information without having the consent from the ICB. Should you wish to re-use previously unreleased information then you must make your request in writing (email will suffice) to the FOI Lead via ddccg.foi@nhs.net. All requests for re-use will be responded to within 20 working days of receipt.