GPs in England will soon have to work Saturdays and weekday evenings

GPs across England will soon have to work Saturdays and weekday evenings under a new contract update, reports have detailed today.

A letter from NHS England has stated that GPs will be required to provide ‘bookable appointments outside core hours within the Enhanced Access period’, which is between 6.30pm and 9pm on weekdays, and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.

Under these revised hours, GPs will be expected to provide a ‘range of general practice services’ under a ‘full multi-disciplinary team’, including for services such as screening, vaccinations and health checks.

While some practices already offer late-night and weekend services, the new hours will become compulsory from October 1st this year.

NHS England / Instagram

The proposed hours have been met with massive backlash, with the British Medical Association said it had been ‘blindsided’ by the announcement and was ‘bitterly disappointed’ by the changes.

The union’s GP committee chair Dr Farah Jameel said, as per The Manchester Evening News: “We are bitterly disappointed that NHS England has chosen to ignore the appeals from the profession and the needs of patients in today’s letter.”

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She added that NHS England seemed committed to following a plan laid out three years ago that had failed to address the current pressures faced by GPs.

She said: “Today’s letter, presented to us with only a few hours’ notice, defies everything we were aiming to achieve in building a constructive relationship and sits at odds with positive conversations with government.

NHS England / Instagram

“GPs and practices will see today’s changes as devaluing their goodwill and demolishing their spirit.”

This comes after Rossendale Borough Council raised concerns over the current NHS booking systems and the availability of in-person appointments since the pandemic.

Councillor Alan Neal said that patients are visiting NHS walk-in centres and accident and emergency departments as an alternative to the lengthy waiting times to see their own doctors.

Health secretary Sajid Javid has urged GPs to scale down phone consultations now the height of the crisis is ‘way past’.