Out-of-hours GP move branded 'chaos' by councillor

A councillor says he has been left confused by the "chaos" caused by an out-of-hours GP service moving from a Kent hospital.

Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) moved Medway On Call Care (MedOCC) out of Medway Maritime Hospital on 28 September.

Councillor Dan McDonald told a Medway Council Health and Social Care committee that the authority had only been notified of the move three days prior, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

James MacDonald, deputy chief medical officer for the ICB, said the move was intended to be temporary, and the long-term plan was to split the out-of-hours service into two.

MedOCC was moved to MCH House at Gillingham Business Park and is being run by Kent Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT).

When asked how long out-of-hours services which remained in the hospital would stay to catch people who had not heard about the relocation, deputy chief operating officer Clare Thomas at KCHFT said it was under review.

"The likely outcome of the review is that we'll get back to having a 24-hour service at the hospital," she said.

Councillor McDonald said: "We've moved the service, caused chaos, with us not knowing anything about it, and we may end up with a 24-hour clinic anyway."

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