About us
Our origins are shared with Northern Doctors Urgent Care (NDUC) which was originally a cooperative established in 1996 in Northumberland in order to allow GPs to manage on-call collectively.
In 2004 following the new arrangements for GP out-of-hours (OOH) services NDUC reconstituted itself as a Community Benefit Society, a not for profit social enterprise. We deliver GP OOH services to 954,000 patients in Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle and South Tyneside and operate GP OOH Urgent Care Centres in Berwick Infirmary, Alnwick Infirmary, Wansbeck Hospital, North Tyneside General Hospital, Hexham General Hospital, South Tyneside District General Hospital, Newcastle General Hospital the Royal Victoria Infirmary. and at our operations centre at Northumberland House, Gosforth Business Park.
NDUC has been awarded the Social Enterpise Mark, and has attained the following standards: ISO 9001; Quality Management Systems; ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems; ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.
Teesside Urgent Care, Community Interest Company (CIC), a not for profit social enterprise, which delivers GP OOH services to 565,000 patients across the whole of Teesside and operates GP OOH Urgent Care Centres in Hartlepool, Stockton, North Ormesby, South Bank, Redcar and Guisborough and at the Teesside Operations Centre in Stockton. The GP OOH service in Teesside operates under the ‘Northern Doctors Urgent Care’ brand.
Other members of the Vocare Group include Primary Care North East Community Interest Company (CIC), a not for profit social enterprise. Primary Care North East is a joint venture with two local GP practices: the Walker Medical Group and the Falcon Medical Practices. It operates the Scotswood GP Practice in Newcastle which opened in 2009 providing a full range of GP services to its registered patients.
Teesside Primary Care (CIC), is a not for profit social enterprise, operates the Eston Grange NHS Healthcare Centre which opened in 2009. Now located in the Low Grange Health Village in South Bank Middlesbrough it provides a popular GP-led Walk-in service from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year and a full range of GP services to its registered patients.
Tyneside Primary Care (CIC), is a not for profit social enterprise, that operates the Jarrow GP Practice, Minor Injury & Minor Illness Centre which opened in 2010. Based in newly refurbished premises in the Palmer Community Hospital in South Tyneside, it also provides a popular GP-led Walk-in service from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year and a full range of GP services to its registered patients.
Social Care Direct Ltd is a commercial venture and has been operating Out of Hours Social Services in North Tyneside since 2009, covering a population of 205,000.
Northern Doctors Medical Services Ltd is a commercial enterprise and has been providing support services including call answering and training for GP Practices since 2006. It also operates a successful deputising doctor and locum agency.
The newest member of the Vocare Group is Northern Doctors Specialist Care (NDSC), which delivers personalised care packages to members of the Northumberland and Tyneside community to allow them to live as independently as possible within their home environment. Our team of Nursing and Support staff, works alongside the client, their family and friends and other health and social care professionals. It demonstrates on a daily basis our commitment to delivering an outstanding patient journey.
Our mission is to replicate our regional success and become a leading national provider of care including areas of clinical and social care and in developing 24-hour GP services. Our values reflect the nature of the group’s services, the attitude of its staff and what it feels like to be a patient, service user, commissioner and partner.
Reliability • Quality • Respect • Trust • Consistency • Integrity • Timeliness
We believe the partnership between NEAS and NDUC is recognition of the skills, knowledge and respect which both organisations have in the local and national healthcare and support service provision. We are proud to be working together and believe we can deliver an outstanding patient journey through our teams to the North East community.