Case Study: Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group achieves improved out-of-hours GP access and service redesign with Ordnance Survey

Improving primary care out-of-hours services in Somerset

Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group undertook a strategic 2012–13 review of primary care out-of-hours services across a large, rural county where complex local demographics, pockets of deprivation and poor public transport made it hard for commissioners and stakeholders to understand service need. Ordnance Survey supported the review by supplying HealthGIS/GIS mapping services to visualise geography, population and service data for the workshops.

Ordnance Survey produced layered maps combining population density, deprivation indicators, current out‑of‑hours site locations, 12‑month activity data and individual call outcomes, and calculated drive‑time access zones at 15‑minute intervals with percentages of the population within each zone. The maps gave commissioners a clear visual of need and travel times, helped identify priority areas and potential new treatment‑centre locations, and directly influenced the remodelling of the GP out‑of‑hours service in Somerset.

Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group

Ann Anderson

Director of Clinical Commissioning Development