Out-of-Hours Primary Care

Out-of-hours primary care sits between specialist palliative care, secondary care, emergency services, and community services. Since 2004, UK general practitioners have not been contractually required to personally provide out-of-hours services to their own patients. Out-of-hours services are staffed by non-clinical call handlers and clinicians who are unlikely to have met the patient before. Out-of-hours services are typically designed for fast triage and acute problem-solving, which conflicts with the needs of terminal care. Around one-third of patients have contact with out-of-hours primary care services within 30 days of death.