The Issue: Would it be a good idea for doctors’ surgeries to open seven days a week?

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, chairwoman of Patient Voice which represents people attending acute hospitals in Oxfordshire

Patient Voice supports the proposal for doctors’ surgeries to open seven days a week.

At the moment, if you are taken ill between 5pm on a Friday afternoon and 8.30am on a Monday morning the only help available is:

* The 111 service, which will refer you to either accident and emergency or your own doctor’s surgery – which is closed.

* The minor injuries units – which are scattered fairly thinly across Oxfordshire.

* Accident and emergency at Oxford’s John Radcliffe or Banbury’s Horton General hospitals.

* The local pharmacist, which is only open Saturdays. A few open on Sunday mornings.

We believe patients would like to be able to see a doctor seven days a week.

We realise this would be expensive and that it would be totally unrealistic for every GP practice to open on Saturdays and Sundays.

But in today’s society, everything is on the go and 24/7. People lead busy lives and a weekend can be the only chance they get to see a doctor.

It would make sense for practices to form groups: one could be all the GP surgeries in Beaumont Street, another Jericho and Summertown, a third the Headington practices.

The health centres could take it in turns to open at the weekend.

This more joined-up approach would mean not all doctors would be required to work seven days a week, but operate on a shift rota.

When patients ring their usual doctor’s surgery, the answer machine could state which practice was seeing patients that day and transfer them so they could book an appointment.

Many years ago I slipped on the ice and broke my wrist. It was a Monday morning and I was seen in A&E very quickly.

However, the person sitting next to me said she’d had a bad back for three days and had resorted to coming to A&E for treatment as she could not get a doctor’s appointment for a week.

Opening surgeries at the weekend would cut the long waiting times in accident and emergency and the minor injuries units and ease pressure on those services.

It could even save lives.

NO

Ian Mckendrick, Oxfordshire Unison health branch communications officer

Too often politicians demand changes in the NHS without providing the necessary funds and staffing to make them viable.

Currently there is a shortfall of £30bn in NHS funding over the next five years, forcing services to look at how they can make cuts.

There is also a shortage of GPs to maintain normal weekday surgeries. This shortage is set to more than double in the next five years. In light of these problems the Government demand for more surgery hours at the weekend without cutting weekday services seems like pie in the sky.

Weekend surgeries run a serious risk of further undermining access to GPs as fewer doctors are prepared to take on the burden of long hours, heavier workloads and reduced contact with their partners and children.

Already a reported third of GPs want to leave practice due to overwork. Further overworking of GPs poses a real threat to patients. Tired and stressed people make mistakes. No patient wants their doctor to get it wrong. All workers need time to recuperate and GPs are no exception.

Opening surgeries for routine care will require support staff. Without additional funds this will simply transfer staff away from weekday services.

GPs and support staff who have school age children will be forced to try to find, and fund, weekend childcare, which will make the work unaffordable and not doable for a significant proportion of staff.

The higher cost of weekend working, plus the additional costs of heating and lighting, will take more resources from weekday services.

Recent Government policy in the NHS is to squeeze as much out of the workforce as possible for as little as possible.

There is a limit to how far this process can go without a backlash.

In an attempt to reduce the wages of staff working weekends across the NHS, the Government has attacked junior doctors – who have threatened to strike in response.

GPs’ resistance to weekend working is about defending services. It is no wonder very few GPs are prepared to open surgeries at weekends, and then for a few hours only.