OVERALL patient satisfaction with out-of-hours GP services in East Lancashire is below the national average, a new survey has revealed.

Both the NHS Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), were below the national average in the recent survey conducted by Ipsos MORI for NHS England.

However, the survey showed that patients were on average happy with their overall experience of their practice.

In Blackburn with Darwen, 71 per cent of patients said they found it it easy to get through to someone at their GP surgery on the phone compared to 68 per cent nationally, while 78 per cent of patients in East Lancashire were satisfied with the hours their GP surgery was open compared to 76 per cent nationally.

The survey found the out-of-hours services, run by East Lancashire Medical Services, was below the national average in areas including the speed of care provided, confidence and trust in out-of-hours staff and the overall experience of the out-of-hours service.

This included only 56 per cent of patients who said the speed of care provided by the out-of-hours service in East Lancashire CCG was ‘about right’, compared to 61 per cent nationally.

But Russ McLean, chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said ‘problems’ were being caused by the NHS 111 service, a non-emergency helpline run by the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).

He said: “Patients definitely aren’t always sure of the difference between the 111 service and the out-of-hours service.

“There is a problem with the 111 service as some of its call handlers are not clinically trained and giving the wrong medical advice.”

A spokesman for East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen CCGs said feedback showed that patients were ‘satisfied’ with the out-of-hours service. They said: “We have no records of concerns from patients but we will continue to work positively with our Out of Hours provider to identify any areas where we can provide support to improve patients’ experience.”

A spokesperson for North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said: “We do conduct satisfaction surveys monthly and the results from this are positive.”