TY - JOUR T1 - March Focus JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 154 LP - 154 DO - 10.3399/bjgp10X483436 VL - 60 IS - 572 AU - Roger Jones Y1 - 2010/03/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/60/572/154.abstract N2 - The adequacy and safety of out-of-hours general practice services in the UK has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, following a number of instances of seriously unsafe practice, often involving doctors with little training in general practice, and little familiarity with the patients for whom they were responsible or with the medical systems in their locality. In this issue of the Journal we report the findings of a qualitative study of out-of-hours services in Wales, (page 164) and this is accompanied by a trenchant article by John Campbell, (page 155), who argues for tougher oversight and governance and a more resolute professional commitment to reasserting responsibility for patients at night and at weekends. His proposals will undoubtedly strike a chord of sympathy among the general public and, I imagine, among many GPs, but others may be concerned about returning to an unsociable commitment which they were happy to relinquish.Although the problem is principally about … ER -