 HEALTH managers last night admitted shortcomings in the GP out-of-hours service offered to Merseyside patients – before offering the company which runs it a six-month contract extension. Under-fire Urgent Care 24 (UC24) was given the reprieve by Primary Care Trust (PCT) directors, who said an established service was needed to cope with an expected increase in illness over the winter months. UC24’S three-year contract with Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton PCTs was due to expire on October 6, and many had predicted it would not be renewed following significant concerns about the service. But while PCT executives will now invite proposals from other interested organisations to run a new service, Merseyside’s 1m patients will continue to rely on UC24 for their round-the-clock care until April, 2008. Last month, UC24, based in Wavertree, was ordered to bring its operation up to national standards after health managers investigated claims patients with life-threatening illnesses were not identified quickly enough, and performance figures were falsified. The GMC is also investigating two cases involving doctors working for UC24, including that of Julie Barr, 28, who died of a heart attack after a GP told her to take paracetamol and the case of Christy Millar, 21, who spent six weeks in a coma after a doctor failed to spot her acute appendicitis. The Daily Post also exclusively revealed the confidentiality of thousands of patients had been compromised after a bug was discovered in UC24 offices and highlighted doctor’s safety concerns after he found blank prescriptions lying in the reception area of one of UC24’s clinics. Now the PCTs intend to issue a new specification for the service and aim to award the new contract early next year. Last night, Leonie Beavers, director of strategy for Liverpool PCT, said UC24 would have the opportunity to compete for the new contract and confirmed that they had been asked to extend their current contract to ensure service continuity over the busy winter period. Mrs Beavers said: “Since we became responsible for out-of-hours care 2½ years ago, we have learnt a lot about the needs of the service. “Over the coming months we will be engaging with pat- ients, GPs and our partners in secondary care to develop a service specification that will ensure the highest clinical standards and optimal access to out of hours care. “We have learnt a lot and are looking to extend the hours that GPs work into the evenings and at weekends to improve patient access. “We have to get this right and want to set out what we are trying to do, which is get a better service. “This is not a knee-jerk reaction to criticism of UC24. | 
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