Cameron promises more flexible GP hours

[Northerner]

David Cameron says he wants to offer more patients the chance to visit a GP in the evening or at weekends.

Under a scheme to be piloted in nine areas of England, surgeries will be able to bid for funding to open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week.

The prime minister said the ?50m project would mean doctors "fit in with work and family life".

Labour said it was an admission of failure after its extended hours scheme was scrapped by the coalition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24339484

 

[trophywench]

I'm not sure I want GPs to be open at weekends, thanks.

I'd rather they had their R&R and come back properly refreshed to deal with their patients on Monday I think.

Plus, it's bad enough trying to find out which days you can see the spcialist GPs anyway and if you see anyone else, you can't ask them the questions you might need the answers to, like will these tablets/this condition affect my BG, cos I'm diabetic? Shouldn't do I don't think - but you'd have to ask Dr E ....

What do you reckon this is while I'm here, just a wart or summat else? I really don't know, I'm sorry, I should make an apt to see Dr B if I were you .....

 

[Northerner]

Don't know where he's going to get the GPs to do this to be frank. They are already overworked (a lot of them), they've been having effective pay cuts for the past few years with more in prospect, many are retiring early rather than take the grief that the reorganisation is bringing, and what is probably worst of all, there has been an increase in suicides amongst GPs. The coalition is messing up the NHS big time

 

[Pumper_Sue]

There are GP's available in the evening and weekends. So what's the problem? It's called the after hours service.

GP's have families and need a life outside of medicine.

 

[Abi]

Just want to thank everyone for being so supportive about GPs
Too much negative press lately- especially in the Daily Fail
I think far too many people in every line of work are pressurised into working long hours or not given enough time for the task on hand -

 

[trophywench]

Well I guess the problem for some is Sue, it's remote.

Not that I've ever had to use it ever but where I used to live I could have walked round to the hospital in under 10 minutes or taken a 15 minute drive to get to the after hours GP! I can see it could be very tempting .....

None of my doctors have ever kept 'late' hours beyond 6pm but in both areas, they have kept 'early' hours so that's good for people who are at work. The thing that gets me now, they'll offer me or husband - both retired - like 07.30 appointments and I think they should keep them for the gainfully employed and let us go a bit later - the only exception I make to that is fasting blood tests.

If folk aren't prepared to get up early to go to the surgery then come off it, they aren't ill, are they?

Here, the out of hours GPs and the hospital are both miles away and there's no bus to the hospital from here, we'd have to walk about 2 miles or drive it to get on a bus that went there in the first place - don't think they run in the evenings though.

I can't see that we'd have anything that would need "just a GP" so urgently, I mean if you needed stitches, losing gallons of blood or something like writhing in agony with pain, it would be take yourself to A&E or a 999 anyway.

It may be different if you already have health issues that can be OK for ages then suddenly flare up where you need a scrip urgently, or with the elderly or little children.