Gordon Brown said round-the-clock GP care had to improve after a report yesterday into a mother's death found serious flaws.

The Chancellor said the NHS must "do better in the future" and there was a need for improvements to how patients accessed care.

Mr Brown said the NHS would have to "do better" in the future. He added: "What I've been talking about is how we can extend the range of facilities for healthcare at the weekends and out of hours.

"We need more access to doctors, walk-in centres, we need local healthcare centres to be more effective, we need NHS Direct to be working."

An investigation found that Penny Campbell, a 41-year-old journalist, received sub-standard care before her death from multiple organ failure. She died in March 2005 after consulting eight doctors over four days. Her son Joseph was six at the time.

A year earlier a new GP contract was agreed which allowed 90% of family doctors to opt out of doing out-of-hours care. The cover became the responsibility of primary care trusts. The report into Ms Campbell's case, published yesterday, said the actions of a GP, together with problems in how the out-of-hours service was run, meant she was not offered appropriate care.

Camidoc, the GP co-op in north London which employed the doctors, had no procedures to ensure that notes on patients were easily available to all GPs. This was a "major system failure" and a direct factor leading to Miss Campbell's death, investigators said.

The report said six GPs provided Miss Campbell with a "reasonable standard" of care but one, named as Dr Chuah, did not adequately explore her symptoms to see if she had an acute illness.

A transcript of his conversation with Miss Campbell shows that when she checked with him that it was "not anything serious" he replied that if it was more serious, she would be a lot more sick and "wouldn't be talking to me like this".

The investigation found the care offered by an eighth GP, Dr Bengi Beyzade, could not be adequately assessed in retrospect. The coroner ruled that the doctors contributed to Miss Campbell's death because they failed to recognise the seriousness of her condition. The report said the system of "safety netting", where Miss Campbell was told to call back if she did not recover, was "seriously flawed".

Camidoc said the six doctors cleared of wrongdoing would be able to go back to out-of-hours work while two others might be able to carry on after a review.

Angus MacKinnon, Miss Campbell's Scottish partner, said Dr Chuah should be struck off and the decision to allow him and Dr Beyzade to carry on with out-of-hours care showed a "total lack of accountability".

He said: "I've had dozens of people contact me, cases where people had really narrow escapes.

"To get justice where doctors have performed unprofessionally, to get justice for the victims of their incompetence, you have to sue them. That's a broader problem within our health system. Dr Chuah should be struck off."

Mr MacKinnon is writing to the General Medical Council (GMC) about the conduct of four of the doctors and is pursuing a civil action.

Rachel Tyndall, chief executive of Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT), which commissions Camidoc's services, apologised.

She added: "Islington PCT recognises the importance of out-of-hours services and is determined to learn lessons from this. We have already, and will continue, to do things differently as a result."

Events leading up to Penny Campbell's death

AN inquiry into the death of journalist Penny Campbell said she was let down by "serious flaws" in out-of-hours service. Chronology of her treatment:

MARCH 23, 2005
Ms Campbell has an operation to treat haemorrhoids at London Independent Hospital.

MARCH 24
Leaves work early, feeling unwell.

MARCH 25
Morning: rings her surgeon, Susan Clark, who says illness unlikely to be linked to the operation. Told to call GP if symptoms worsen. 7.17pm: rings the out-of-hours service Camidoc for the first time. Dr El-Kinani calls to tell her to come in for a check-up. 8.30pm: sees Dr Fitzpatrick at a St Pancras clinic.

MARCH 26
2.38pm: Ms Campbell rings Camidoc. 3.40pm: Dr Vucevic rings Ms Campbell and gives advice over the telephone. 10.24pm: she rings Camidoc again. 10.46pm: Dr Wenaden calls Ms Campbell.

MARCH 27
11.40am: Ms Campbell's partner Angus MacKinnon rings Camidoc. 11.51am: Dr Laquer rings her to advise a home visit. 3.45pm: Dr Beyzade examines her at home.

MARCH 28
4.09am: Ms Campbell rings NHS Direct. 4.50am: Dr Chuah rings her and gives telephone advice. 9.58am: Ms Campbell rings Camidoc again. 10.15am: Dr Choudary rings Ms Campbell, who decides to go to casualty. 10.50am: arrives at Royal London Hospital showing signs of "sepsis and shock". 3pm: moved to intensive care unit with multiple organ failure.

MARCH 29
7.50am: Penny Campbell dies