GP says extended hours plan could backfire in rural areas

Tory backbencher Dr Sarah Wollaston said the “workforce crisis” in primary care will make it difficult for countryside practices to be open all hours, and that rural villages risk getting less access to doctors if the pilot scheme draws doctors in to urban areas.

The plan, confirmed by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in his keynote speech yesterday, will initially see £50m made available for around 50 GP practices to open 12 hours a day, seven days week, while also experimenting with new technology such as consultation by video link.

Mr Cameron said he would like to see every GP surgery open from 8am-8pm, seven days a week.

But Dr Wollaston said: “You could make access to GPs worse in some parts of the country by putting money into pilots in urban areas. The question is, are we going to make it even more difficult to recruit GPs in rural areas?

“The danger is we raise expectations that this will be the magic bullet for GP access. But that won’t happen unless you address the problem of the workforce crisis. If you have a small rural practice with only two doctors, how are you going to be able to roll this model out?”

Mr Hunt also used his speech yesterday to announce that the health regulator is to be placed on an independent footing, similar to the Bank of England, to take hospital inspections out of the hands of politicians,

He said the Government would start legislating next week to make the Care Quality Commission (CQC) independent to ensure it can be the “nation’s chief whistleblower” in hospitals and care homes.