health-on-line.co.uk - Health insurance the easy way

need assistance?

Call 01202 544 445

lines are open 8am to 7pm (calls may be recorded)

request a call back

Health News

    GP opening hours divide deepens

    Posted on 04/02/2008

    Health Secretary Alan Johnson has written to every GP in the country, as the row over flexible surgery hours deepens.

    In his letter, Mr Johnson says that the government is 'disappointed' that the British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union formally representing the interests of UK GPs, had been unable to agree contract changes proposed by the government. These include proposals to increase the opening hours of a practice by 30 minutes each week for every 1,000 patients it has registered.

    Mr Johnson's letter, which directly calls on GPs to back the proposals, has been widely interpreted as an attempt to circumvent the BMA after talks between it and the government stalled in December.

    The BMA, which had accused the government of 'gun-barrel' negotiation, says that it believes the public are being 'softened up' for the introduction of more fundamental changes to general practice.

    'Patients are being prepared to view their GP as not very good and not very willing and not very flexible,' Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GPs committee, told BBC News.

    Meanwhile, GPs appear to be resisting the government's approach, with anger evident among those leaving comments on the BBC News website.

    'The government has chosen to have this fight,' wrote West Sussex doctor Tim Kimber. 'The BMA told the government at the outset that it didn't think extended hours was a good idea, but that if that's what the government wanted, it would provide, and it made a reasonable offer, which the government rejected.'



    Category: Healthcare


< Previous
Next >


Latest News Stories