The Health Service Journal reports that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has called on primary care trusts to review out of hours services over widespread concerns that some private GP companies do not meet basic standards when working in England under NHS contracts.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/news/primary-care/cqc-calls-for-review-of-out-of-hours-gp-services/5006928.article#
The CQC was called in to examine the role of private care provider Take Care Now, after one of its employees German doctor Daniel Ubani caused the death of 70-year-old patient, David Gray. who died after being administered with 10 times the normal dose of diamorphine. Take Care Now has five contracts with NHS trusts - in Worcestershire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney and south-west Essex.
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis commented that the tragic case of David Gray showed what happened when companies put "profit before people.
"This is a tragic case that should never have happened. Patients' needs must come first, but privatisation means profits come before people. There must be an urgent review."
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/britain/Watchdog-attacks-care-monitoring#
