Millions failed by NHS GPs who shut in the afternoon
- Report says half of England’s 7,600 surgeries shut down between 8am-6.30pm
- While many take a two-hour lunch break or have a midweek afternoon off
- MPs say this leads to ‘worse outcomes’ for patients and overcrowding
Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail
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Millions of patients are being denied GP appointments in the week, MPs warn today.
In a damning report, they say that half of England’s 7,600 surgeries shut down at some point during the core hours of 8am and 6.30pm.
Many take a two-hour lunch break or have a midweek afternoon off.
Millions of patients are being denied GP appointments in the week, MPs warn today
The MPs say this leads to ‘worse outcomes’ for patients and overcrowding in casualty units. Working adults have the most difficulty in getting an appointment.
The report – from the Commons public accounts committee – says the main problem is that doctors need only to meet the ‘reasonable needs’ of patients. And it is up to them to decide what this means in terms of surgery hours.
The MPs also criticise the Government and NHS officials for recruitment failures. Staff numbers are falling despite a promise to recruit an extra 5,000 family doctors by 2020.
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GP surgeries are coming under extra pressures from the ageing population and migration-fuelled population growth.
Many patients must wait three weeks for an appointment or face queuing up to be seen on the day.
John Pugh, a Lib Dem member of the accounts committee, said the report was an ‘indictment of the Government’s failure to recruit enough GPs and improve access for patients’.
MPs surgeries closing during the core hours leads to ‘worse outcomes’ for patients and overcrowding in casualty units (file photo)
He added: ‘Soaring numbers of patients are struggling to get appointments when they need one. It is creating a deeply unfair postcode lottery of care. This is having a catastrophic impact on AEs already struggling with rising demand.’
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s health spokesman, said: ‘The Tories have utterly failed to support general practice.
‘Theresa May has overseen an unprecedented GP workforce crisis which has made it harder for ordinary people to see their local GP.
‘The system is at breaking point and her failure to get a grip is disgraceful.’
The report said that 46 per cent of GP practices – almost 3,500 – close during core hours. It warned that proposals to roll out evening and weekend appointments over the next two years were flawed.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan said: ‘The Tories have utterly failed to support general practice’
The scheme was judged as very costly with patients having to see an unfamiliar doctor at a time that might still not be of their choosing.
The issue of GPs closing early was highlighted in January when a report by the National Audit Office found that a fifth were taking at least one afternoon off a week.
This prompted an investigation by the Mail that revealed many surgeries were choosing Wednesday to shut up shop. Patients and parents with sick children told us they had no choice but to go to the nearest AE unit.
Days later the Prime Minister promised to withhold funding from GPs who failed to offer sufficient access.
NHS guidelines allow doctors to close on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon if they can argue that they are not usually busy at these times. Doctors claim some surgeries lack the staff or the resources to stay open during core hours, or need the time to catch up on paperwork.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, who chairs the British Medical Association’s GPs committee, said: ‘This is yet another important report that highlights that general practice is under incredible strain.
‘Many GP practices are struggling to cope with rising patient demand in a climate of stagnating budgets and staff shortages. Precious resources are being diverted to offer routine weekend appointments in some parts of the country. Yet at the same time many GP services are struggling to provide effective, safe care to their patients during weekday opening hours and in urgent care settings in evenings and weekends.’
SURGERY WITH 6,000 PATIENTS BUT NO DOCTORS
Anna and John Gosling live within 50 yards of Iwade Health Centre but find it hard to get an appointment
Iwade Health Centre in Sittingbourne, Kent, has five receptionists but no doctors. That leaves its 6,000 patients to rely solely on locums.
The surgery, which has two nurses and two advanced nurse practitioners, is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm. It closes at midday for a three-hour lunch break.
Anna and John Gosling live within 50 yards but try to avoid it because of the difficulty of getting an appointment. ‘When we first moved here it was really easy,’ said Mrs Gosling, 86.
‘You could walk in and get an appointment and you knew who your doctor would be.
‘Now it’s impossible. It’s disgusting that there are no doctors there at all and we try to avoid going if we can.’
She says her husband, 90, who used to be a BT engineer, is a ‘fit as a fiddle’ but worries in case one of them falls ill. ‘We are both registered there but luckily we haven’t had to try to get an appointment recently,’ she added.
‘They say you can call up in the morning before 8:30 and they will try and fit you in on the day, but we’re never up that early.’
Councillor James Hunt, vice chairman of Iwade Parish Council, said: ‘There’s no staff and the staff who are there are leaving.’
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, who is the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘The fact that patients are finding it difficult to make an appointment is not because we are not working hard enough. It is because we don’t have the resources and workforce necessary to deliver the care and services our patients need and deserve.’
Last month the head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, promised to make GP services a priority. But his plans for weekend appointments depend on the Health Service hitting its recruitment targets.
Figures published last month showed that GPs are quitting or retiring at the rate of 150 a month.
A Conservative Party spokesman said last night: ‘Our growing economy means more money for the NHS – and a 14 per cent increase in primary care funding – so 17million people can already see a GP at evenings and weekends.
‘Theresa May has been clear that she wants to see extended opening hours across the country – none of which could happen with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister, propped up by a coalition of chaos that can’t invest in the NHS.’
An NHS England spokesperson said: ’17 million people now have access to GP appointments at evenings and weekends and the public are clear that they want this across England.
‘This month directions have been issued which mean that practices that shut for half-days each week will lose their share of the £88 million enhanced access scheme.
‘The 10 per cent increase in GP trainee numbers since 2015 will help boost the workforce – further improving access for patients and reducing the pressure on GPs.’
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