The move comes after the not for profit organisation won a three-year contract from HealthEast CIC, working with NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney. GPs from Great Yarmouth and Waveney will be used to provide the out-of-hours service, while all calls and triage will also be completed locally.

Andy Evans, Chief Executive of HealthEast said: “Over the past few weeks, we have been working closely with South East Health and Harmoni, our existing out of hours provider, to ensure the transition between the two will be seamless for our patients

“Patient safety and service quality are of primary importance to HealthEast and NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney. As such, South East Health Ltd will work in accordance with existing robust contractual arrangements which we will continue to monitor closely. We will be working closely with them to make the service even better for patients over the next three years.”

South East Health Ltd is a not for profit social enterprise which has been providing out of hours primary care for the past 20 years. It currently operates in East Sussex, East Kent, West Kent, Brighton and Hove and Northamptonshire.

Ron Owttrim, Chief Executive of South East Health Ltd said: “We are delighted to be able to provide the patients of Great Yarmouth and Waveney with the new Great Yarmouth and Waveney out of hours service. We want to reassure our patients that we have, and will continue to work closely with HealthEast CIC and NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney, to ensure that the service continues to improve for our patients. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Harmoni, the current providers, for all their help and support over the past few weeks which has been invaluable.”