Concern at private GP services.

BRITAIN'S top health watchdog has raised concerns about the quality of a private out-of-hours GP service used to treat NHS patients in Worcestershire.

The Care Quality Commission today published a report which highlighted weaknesses in out-of-hours care company Take Care Now, used by five primary care trusts natiowide including NHS Worcestershire.

The report focussed on the death of 70-year-old David Gray, who was accidentally killed by a German doctor working his first out-of-hours shift in Britain for Take Care Now.

Mr Gray was given ten times the normal dose of diamorphine by Dr Daniel Ubani, who admitted only having a few hours' sleep before beginning work for a Cambridgeshire trust.

Paul Bates, NHS Worcestershire Chief Executive, said an internal review into the private firm was continuing and extra levels of monitoring had been put in place.