Seven-day doctor service 'unrealistic' and could damage care quality, UK's top GP warns

Most GPs are working 'at the limits of what is safe', Britain's leading GP has said. Credit: PA

A seven-day doctor service is "unrealistic" and could damage the quality of care patients receive on a weekday, Britain's leading GP has said.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), said most GPs were working "at the limits of what is safe", with the profession stretched to "breaking point" already.

If GPs were made to work at the weekends, this would reduce the availability of doctors to provide patient care during the week, Prof Stokes-Lampard warned.

At the 2014 Conservative Party conference then prime minister David Cameron pledged access to GPs from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and established a £50m “challenge fund” to deliver it.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Credit: PA

Speaking to The Guardian, Prof Stokes-Lampard said: "GPs are working flat out to do the best they can for their patients, but with a severe shortage of family doctors already seeing record numbers of people, there is no way that a seven-day routine service could be delivered without having a serious impact on services through the week.

"Patients can always see a GP through the out-of-hours service when they urgently need one.

"But there is a distinction between 'need' and 'want' and there is very little evidence to show that patients want or need to see a GP for non-urgent care on a Sunday afternoon.

"It's unrealistic in the current climate. We haven't got the people, we haven't got the resources."

In the current climate a seven-day GP service is not feasible, Prof Stokes-Lampard has warned. Credit: PA

Prof Stokes-Lampard further warned: "They [patients] can't have it all."

She continued that GPs are "spread too thin", adding the rise in the need for care is prompting doctors to retire early or move abroad, leaving the profession facing a growing workforce crisis and patients facing long waits for appointments..

Prof Stokes-Lampard estimated that everyday in the UK there are 1.3 million GP appointments.

"But the number of GPs has not kept pace with patient demand and while we are seeing as many patients as we can, patient safety - and doctors' own health - must be paramount," she said.

The Government must invest in general practice so that GPs can provide a safe weekday service, she added.

There are 1.3 million GP appointments in the UK everyday. Credit: PA

Prof Stokes-Lampard comments came after she warned last month that patients could be forced to wait weeks to see their family doctor as overstretched medics struggle to keep waiting times down during the busy winter period.

If management of patients with chronic diseases is delayed so GPs can "firefight" the urgent patients, the consequences could be "very serious indeed", she said.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "This is a common-sense reform with wide public support - and one we will deliver.

"People don't just get ill Monday to Friday, nine to five, and 18 million patients now have weekend and extended access to a GP, which has already shown evidence of relieving pressure on other parts of the NHS.

"To deliver our pledge, we are putting an extra £2.4 billion into GP services, which will help expand the workforce."