Government and GPs clash over hours

Health Secretary Alan Johnson issued the text of a letter to every GP in England explaining why he wants surgeries to open at weekends and in the evenings.

"General satisfaction with GP services is high, and the quality of our primary care is admired across the world," he said in the letter. "However, significant numbers of patients consistently tell us that improving access to GP services should be a priority for the NHS. This includes not just greater choice of appointment times, but continuing improvements in ability to book advance appointments and fast access to GP appointments."

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said GP services had record investment and GPs were "very well paid". "The main thing that the taxpayer and the public tell us about the health service now, in terms of the complaints that they still have, is being able to see a GP at a time that is more convenient for them," he told BBC Radio 4 Today programme. "I don't think it is unreasonable for a Government responsible for the health service to ensure that the public and patients get what they want."

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA GPs' committee, said that a recent survey of more than two million people in England showed that the "vast majority" of patients were happy with their surgeries' opening hours. Only four out of every hundred patients wanted their practice to open in the evening, and seven out of a hundred on a Saturday morning, he said.

He said: "GPs are spending more time with their patients and dealing with more complex cases, including taking on work that was previously provided by the local hospital.

"If GPs were to extend their opening hours, without extra resources, there could be an adverse impact on the daytime service. It could take appointments away from the patients who need and use their local surgery the most - older people, mothers with young children and those with chronic conditions.

"If GP practices were to offer extended hours then other NHS services would need to be open too. Laboratories would need to be open in the evenings and weekends to make sure patients' tests could be dealt with quickly without having to ask the patient to return for another appointment, for example to give a blood sample. GPs would also need their surgeries staffed with receptionists and other support staff."

The Government has said it wants GP surgeries to open for an extra half an hour for every 1,000 patients, in blocks of one and a half hours. For an average GP practice with 6,000 patients, this would mean an extra three hours a week.

The BMA is willing to have surgeries open for an extra two hours on average, the equivalent of 6.30pm to 8.30pm on a weekday evening or a Saturday morning surgery. But the Government is demanding they open for three.