South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), the current provider of NHS 111, has been selected by the 10 clinical commissioning groups across the Thames Valley as the preferred provider to deliver an integrated urgent care service across the Thames Valley.

Launching next year, it will be delivered in partnership with other local providers, and will offer patients access to a seamless 24/7 urgent clinical assessment and treatment service – bringing together NHS 111, GP out of hours and other clinical advice, such as dental, medicines and mental health.

Sam Burrows, the senior responsible officer for the procurement process said: “We are pleased to be working with SCAS on this exciting transformation, building on the strong performance currently delivered to patients across the Thames Valley.

“We are now entering a co-production phase with SCAS, which is still an ongoing part of the procurement process. A formal contract will be awarded once this phase has been completed successfully.”

SCAS’s Chief Operating Officer Philip Astle said “SCAS is delighted to be working with the Clinical Commissioning Groups and our partners from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to design and deliver a transformational integrated urgent care service for the people of the Thames Valley for the next five years.”

Care UK was initially selected as the preferred supplier of the new service, but withdrew from the procurement process after identifying issues with their bid. In line with the published procurement process, Thames Valley Clinical Commissioning Groups invited the reserve bidder, an alliance of NHS organisations led by South Central Ambulance Service, to enter a co-production process with them to design a new integrated urgent care system for Thames Valley.