GP surgeries to open seven days a week, says David Cameron
I think we need to rural proof this idea. Good though it superficially sounds:
Family doctors will offer advice over the internet and open for longer hours, seven days a week, to help ease the pressure on struggling A&E departments, David Cameron has said.
The prime minister said he would like GP surgeries to open from 8am until 8pm and over the weekends to fit in with the lifestyles of working people. He said a £50m pilot scheme would be rolled out across the country.
“I think it is the right approach to look at this because obviously our accident and emergency departments do a brilliant job but they do have four million more people going through them than was the case in 2004,” he told ITV’s Daybreak.
“A lot of people going to accident and emergency really need a GP rather than accident and emergency, so I think this pilot scheme … is a very good step forward.”