11/04/2025
GP Out of Hours Services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire provide advice, information and treatment for people who become unwell during the period when their own GP surgery is closed, i.e:
Overnight during weekdays between 6.30pm and 8am
24/7 on weekends
24/7 on Bank Holidays
The service is appointment only and can only be accessed by contacting NHS 111.
NHS 111 will assess the person’s needs and if they deem it clinically appropriate, they will book an out of hours GP appointment for the individual concerned
This appointment may either be:
A telephone appointment, which involves the patient being called back within a specific time period.
A face-to-face appointment at one of the designated centres in Herefordshire or Worcestershire.
These are at a variety of locations and venues, including in hospitals.
A home visit, which is normally just for housebound patients or on the basis of clinical need.
The services in the two counties are currently provided by two separate organisations under two separate contracts. Both contracts will expire in July 2026, so the Integrated Care Board is legally obliged to re-commission the services. It normally takes about 12 months to organise the commissioning work for services of this size, scale and importance.
As part of the work to commission the new services, we would like to hear your views and understand your experiences. This feedback will inform the work and will help us to identify any changes that we might need to make the services we organise for you.
Who is the survey for? - We are keen to hear from a wide range of people across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, including those who live, work, care, or receive NHS services in these areas. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you have used either of the current GP out of hours services in either Herefordshire or Worcestershire. Please note this survey is NOT seeking feedback on your normal GP practice (i.e. the one that you would use on Monday to Friday during the day).
Survey - Please use this link to share your views: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GPOutofHoursServiceSurvey
Deadline - Please give us your views by 9am, Wednesday, 30 April 2025. The survey should take approximately 8 minutes to complete.
How we will use your feedback - All responses will be anonymous. NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will collate and store the answers that you give. We will publish the anonymous findings to our website and will also share with our partners. Personal identifying information will not be collected and therefore won’t appear in any publications resulting from this survey. Your anonymous quotes may be used in this, and other relevant ICB reports.
The feedback will be used to develop a service specification. This is a document that will describe what service we want to ensure is available to you from July 2026 onward. Potential service providers will respond to the requirements in this document when outlining how they would provide the service.
Information about the survey is also available online: https://www.hwics.org.uk/get-involved/involvement-opportunities/gp-out-hours-service
GP Out of Hours Services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire provide advice, information and treatment for people who become unwell during the period when their own GP surgery is closed, i.e:
