WORCESTERSHIRE Primary Care Trust (PCT) is one of the least well performing trusts in England according to a new review into the delivery of urgent and emergency care.

The PCT, responsible for commissioning local NHS services, scored in the bottom 18 per cent out of the 152 PCTs reviewed by the Healthcare Commission.

The review focussed on out of hours GP services, accident and emergency departments, urgent care centres and ambulance services.

Worcestershire PCT scored below average or below national targets and standards for all three “themes” of the review - access, effectiveness and integration and management.

The PCT also had the lowest possible rating in nine out of the 36 areas examined and was below average or national targets and standards in 15.

The lowest score was given in areas such as the percentage of calls to out of hours GP services either engaged or abandoned, quality assurance in out of hours GP services and the development of systems to share care plans for individual patients between services.

Paul Bates, chief executive of Worcestershire PCT, said: “We acknowledge that performance in some of the areas covered by this report has historically not been as good as we would have wanted.

“It is, however, important to stress that the data contained in the report was collected over 12 months ago.

“Fortunately, the intervening period has corresponded with a thorough review of our out of hours service that is one of the most significant areas covered under this report.

“One of the outcomes of the review was for the PCT to develop a new specification for the out of hours service and this has subsequently been contracted to an alternative provider.

“The new arrangements actually come into effect as from October 1 and we are confident that this new contract will result in a vastly improved service.”

He added: “In addition to commissioning a new out of hours service, the PCT has invested more in the ambulance service, is opening a new GP-led health centre, arranging for GP practices to open extended hours and providing a minor injuries unit in the new Malvern Hospital.

“These initiatives will hugely improve our rating when we are next assessed.”

The review found that across England the majority of services were performing well, with 60 per cent of PCT areas scoring the top two ratings.

The data was collected between October, 2007 and April, 2008, with most assessment covering the period between April and September, 2007.