OKEHAMPTON?s out of hours doctors? service came under the spotlight during a meeting in the town last week. The town council is concerned that there is no longer a 24 hour doctors? service based in Okehampton. In light of Okehampton?s continued and rapid growth the council is concerned that the service offered is not adequate ? although the Primary Care Trust insists it is actually ?very good?. Mayor Tony Leech at last week?s meeting said: ?In the long-term there are going to be more houses, more families and more people in Okehampton. There should be improvements to the system. Many people feel the service should be improved and not cut back. ?People have complained to the council but without writing to the Primary Care Trust they will not be aware that there is a problem.? The council has written to the PCT suggesting they send a representative to attend a town council meeting where the public will be encouraged to attend and address the issue. Currently, Okehampton has full GP coverage every evening until 11pm. Between 6.30pm and 11pm there is a GP based at the hospital, this includes the weekends and bank holidays. Overnight GP cover comes from Exeter although there are times where it could come from either Tiverton or Barnstaple. Since October 2004 the out of hours GP service has been commissioned by the Devon Primary Care Trust and run through Devon Doctors. The main activity of Devon Doctors is to provide urgent out of hours cover to GP practices across the county. Chief executive of Devon Doctors, Chris Wright, said: ?We have eight GPs based in the best possible positions around the county. The rota is largely staffed by local GPs, who we maintain a strong partnership with, and are very familiar with the area and the people. ?We have more than ten years? experience and know how to staff appropriately. ?The reality is we receive far fewer calls through the night than at other times. It is hard to justify tax payers? money on having a locally based GP on call for 24 hours. ?It is understandable why people feel vulnerable with not having a local GP on 24 hour call. ?However, there is a very consistent service out there and where people need to see a GP, they will see a GP. In comparison with the rest of the country, the service offered in Devon is very good.? Devon Primary Care Trust chief executive, Kevin Snee, said: ?Overall Okehampton has a satisfactory level of cover and receives an excellent service which meets national quality standards for out of hours services. Okehampton also benefits from overnight community nurse cover provided from Exeter. ?I have checked through the records and there have been no recent complaints or adverse incidents of any kind.?
