30.09.14
Cameron promises seven-day GP access by 2020
The prime minister has promised that everyone in England will have access to GP services seven days a week by 2020, if his party wins the next general election.
In his speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham later today, David Cameron will also call for GPs to be open for up to 12 hours every day to relieve pressure on hospitals and give working people access to their doctors at weekends.
The plans follow the launch of the £50m GP Access Fund trial earlier this year, which allowed hundreds of surgeries to open for seven days a week in 20 GP areas.
The fund also allowed GPs to offer a variety of “forward-thinking” services to suit busy lifestyles, including greater use of Skype, email and phone consultations for those who would find it easier.
The prime minister has now unveiled a further £100m from April 2015, with practices around the country to be invited to bid for funds for 2015-16. Extending seven day opening to all areas by 2020 will cost £400m spread over the next five years, the government said.
Cameron will say that the Conservatives’ plans for family doctors will allow people to be confident that “our NHS will be there for them”.
He will add: “People need to be able to see their GP at a time that suits them and their family. That's why we will ensure everyone can see a GP seven days a week by 2020.
“We will also support thousands more GP practices to stay open longer - giving millions of patients better access to their doctor.”
The Conservatives hope the measures, which will be announced in the party’s general election manifesto, will address concerns that more patients are attending hospitals for relatively “minor” issues because it is difficult to see a GP.
Responding to the PM’s announcement, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA's GP committee, said: “GPs naturally wish to improve access to patients. But this announcement does not address the current reality of what patients and GPs are facing; we need immediate solutions to the extreme pressures that GP practices are facing, with inadequate numbers of GPs and practice staff to manage increasing volume of patients, who are already having to wait too long for care.”
He added that the BMA urges the government to prioritise caring for the “needs of patients today, rather than promises for tomorrow”.
Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s shadow health secretary, added that David Cameron made an almost identical announcement this time last year but, in the 12 months since, he has made it harder, not easier, to get a GP appointment.
“After the election, David Cameron scrapped Labour’s GP appointment guarantee and cut support for evening and weekend opening. His broken promises on the NHS have caught up with him,” he said. “Labour has a plan for extra funding for the NHS and a commitment to recruit 8,000 more GPs.”
NHE has been at the conference and will have full coverage in our next edition.
(Image: David Cameron speaking at the 2013 Conservative conference c. Stefan Rousseau/ PA Wire)
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