MPs condemn Serco for substandard out of hours service in Cornwall
BMJ 2013; 347 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f4479 (Published 11 July 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f4479
- Adrian O’Dowd
- 1London
A private firm providing a GP out of hours service in Cornwall has been described as bullying and inhibiting staff from whistleblowing when things started to go wrong.
In a highly critical report published on 11 July by the parliamentary public accounts select committee, MPs accused Serco of bullying employees, providing a short staffed and substandard service, and manipulating data to hide the truth.1
Out of hours GP services in Cornwall are provided by Serco for NHS Kernow, the clinical commissioning group for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, as part of a five year contract worth £32m (€37m; $47m).
Serco has been the subject of various critical reports about its service from the NHS regulator the …
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