The service will be managed from Edward Jenner Court, in Brockworth. However, IC24 call takers will work remotely and clinical advisers may also work remotely or from other Trust bases. Face to face out of hours appointments will be offered at some of our Minor Injury and Illness Units (Stroud, Cirencester and Forest of Dean) as well as at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Cheltenham General Hospital and, when appropriate, in people’s own homes.

Locations for face to face appointments (when appropriate) are: 

Forest of Dean Community Hospital > Glos Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust

Cirencester Hospital > Glos Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust

Stroud General Hospital > Glos Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust

Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals: Hospital maps and locations

The NHS111 service and all telephone and online elements will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Face to face services will be available when GP surgeries are closed – this will generally be from 6:30pm until 8am the following day Monday to Friday. 24 hours on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

As 111 will become a prime route for the public to contact the NHS in Gloucestershire, it will be possible for the IUCS service to make referrals into other services such as Minor Injury Units, A&E and the ambulance service. We will build on our existing links with those services and ensure referral processes and handovers are all aligned.

Access will be via NHS111 – both over the telephone and online. Once patients have undergone a telephone or online assessment they will be supported in the most appropriate way, which may include advice over the telephone (including self-care or an electronic prescription), a face to face appointment at an NHS hospital, a home visit or referral to another service.

There will be different types of professionals in different roles. This will include health advisers (primarily working for IC24 and based remotely), Advanced Clinical Practitioners (to include Nurses, Paramedics) and doctors – primarily GPs. The service will be overseen by a clinical Service Director, working alongside a senior GP as Clinical Director supported by a Governance Lead. The Clinical Assessment Service will be led by an experienced GP and IC24 itself has strong clinical leadership, ensuring the service as a whole is clinically led with firm governance processes in place.

The IUC service is an enhanced service, incorporating a new element – the Clinical Assessment Service (CAS). Direct comparison with the current service is not applicable, as the model is changing to move in line with the national specification.  The new CAS will be staffed with GPs 24 hours a day/7 days a week.  Patients requiring GP triage and assessment will be referred to the CAS by NHS 111 and CAS GPs will speak to patients over the phone and via video call to triage and assess their urgent care needs.  The service co-location with the GHC Single Point of Clinical Access will enable teams to work closely together to help with access into a wider range of Urgent Community Response services which could include Minor Injury and Illness Units or the Rapid Response service, improving access to urgent care and avoiding unnecessary ambulance callouts and conveyance with the associated risks of long emergency department waits and avoidable hospital admission.

GPs in the CAS will triage all calls requiring a face to face out of hours consultation and book these into the appropriate appointment, which could be a home visit from a mobile GP, an Out of Hours GP appointment at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital or Cheltenham General Hospital treatment centres, or an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) appointment in one of our other three bases. There will be GP cover 24/7 in the IUCS services with face-to-face Out of Hours provision operating in five bases across the county.  Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital treatment centres will be covered by GPs across the full Out of Hours period (evenings, overnight, weekends and bank holidays).  This will be supplemented by ACP sessions in three further locations (Stroud, Cirencester and Cinderford) on weekends and bank holidays during daytime. The ACPs will be supported at all times by the GPs based in the CAS.

The service mobilisation team is currently working on the model to ensure that patient safety is at the core of the service. With engagement and collaborative working with an array of stakeholders we aim to ensure the service is appropriate to meet the needs and demand in Gloucestershire and can respond to surge, such as winter pressures. This may mean some dynamic workforce approaches.

Yes, we know that mental health and physical health are closely linked. When people ring NHS111 they now have the option of dialling ‘2’ for mental health support, and calls will then be directed through to GHC’s urgent mental health services. However, there will be the ability to refer callers across services and this is one benefit of having the service based within GHC, which provides secondary mental health services and crisis support.

Integrated Care 24 is a social enterprise, not for profit organisation. They are based in Kent but provide services across the UK. You can read more about IC24 on their website: Integrated Care 24 – Home (ic24.org.uk)

The service will be part of Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust and will be overseen by a Governance committee, in conjunction with IC24. The service will be subject to the same oversight and regulations as any NHS service, which includes inspections and reporting via the Care Quality Commission. Anyone using the service who has feedback should contact us via experience@ghc.nhs.uk

Please email ghccomms@ghc.nhs.uk