Doctors' surgeries will open for up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, by 2020 if the Tories win the next election, David Cameron is expected to announce today.
Many surgeries are currently only open from 9am until 5pm on weekdays, with millions of patients waiting a week or more for an appointment.But Cameron is expected to pledge £400m in funding over the next five years to ensure surgeries can stay open for longer.The Prime Minister will announce the move at the Conservative Party conference today in a bid to relieve pressure on hospitals and give working people access to a GP at weekends."This is only possible because we've taken difficult decisions to reduce inefficient and ineffective spending elsewhere as part of our long-term economic plan," he will say. More doctors will be required to carry out consultations via email, telephone and video calls.However, doctors' unions have said the plans are unrealistic with too few GPs to staff a seven-day service. The British Medical Association has previously stated that a seven-day service was "not feasible" within the current NHS budget and risked reducing weekday services.The Daily Telegraph says Cameron's intervention is designed to "counter Labour's plans to focus its election campaign on the NHS".Labour leader Ed Miliband last week committed to a £2.5bn fund to hire 36,000 nurses, doctors and midwives in order to "save" the NHS.Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham told the BBC today that "under David Cameron, it has got harder and harder to get a GP appointment". He added that the next Labour government "will guarantee a GP appointment within 48 hours or a same-day consultation with a doctor or nurse for those who need it".
However, the Conservatives have labelled Labour's plans "a gimmick they can't afford".
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