Three into one WILL go

A bid by WSDOC, the non-profit company that currently delivers the service to 70 per cent of West Sussex, was unexpectedly rejected by West Sussex Primary Care Trust.

The trust announced the news on Friday, saying that patients in West Sussex would be looked after by one out-of-hours service instead of three, following the award of the contract to Harmoni H S Ltd from April 1.

Since 2004, changes in doctors' hours have seen the out-of-hours services covered by WSDOC in Worthing, Chichester, Worthing, Horsham and surrounding areas, with Thamesdoc caring for Crawley and On-Call Care for Mid Sussex.

WSDOC, which is based in Havant, Hampshire, was one of ten providers that made a bid to take on the new contract for the whole of West Sussex.

Chief executive Jane Kimber said: "I am sad that WSDOC has not been selected to deliver the countywide service. I have seen that the trust expects to save 1.5m over three years by giving the contract to Harmoni but we would have saved 1.5m in the first year by incorporating Crawley and Mid Sussex in our operations, on costings per patient head '“ and we are a non-profit-making company."

Harmoni already provides out- of-hours services to 15 primary care trusts, including Brent, Buckinghamshire, Harrow, South Birmingham and North Somerset.

West Sussex PCT chief executive John Wilderspin said: "As a West Sussex-wide PCT with a responsibility to provide the best possible care and deliver value for money, we believe that having just one out-of-hours service to serve the whole of the country is the best way of achieving this for the people of West Sussex."

For full story and comment see West Sussex Gazette December 5