Leader: Out-of-hours does need targets.(Brief Article)

GP has never been an newspaper that has called for more targets for primary care, but sometimes something very obvious is missed and we have to break the habit of a lifetime. The realisation that there is no central data collection of out-of-hours performance is one such case.

GPs may be less involved in out-of-hours since the new GMS contract came into force, but this failure to measure the quality of care across the range of bodies now delivering it is still bad news for all primary care doctors.

Poorly performing out-of-hours services mean more emergency …