A HEALTH boss says the controversial private company that runs Worcestershire’s out-of-hours service is not “a cheap joke” despite concerns over performance.

Dr Bryan Smith, chairman of NHS Worcestershire, said Take Care Now (TCN), had received negative publicity but still provided the best possible service for the people of Worcestershire.

The organisation has been investigated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the health watchdog, after the death of 70-year-old David Gray, accidentally killed by a German doctor on his first shift in Britain.

Chiefs at NHS Worcestershire also launched their own investigation into TCN which was connected with concerns raised by local GPs and had nothing to do with the CQC investigation of the company after Dr Daniel Ubani killed his patient by giving him 10 times the normal dose of diamorphine.

Dr Bryan Smith, chairman of NHS Worcestershire, said at a board meeting: “I am concerned that the publicity TCN has been given could create the impression we have gone for some cheap, joke service to save money. Nothing could be further from the truth. During the tender we realised how critical this service was to the people of Worcestershire. We put it out to competitive tender so we could find the best we could get and we went for the best service, not the cheapest.

“It’s a pity that a lot of bad publicity is associated with TCN and it looks like we have gone for some nasty, cheap, back-of-the-wall organisation. Far from it.”

The out-of-hours service allows people to get treatment from a doctor when their GP surgery is closed, such as late into the evening and at weekends.

The CQC interim report said all primary care trusts which have contracts with TCN should monitor the work of the company more closely.