Low take-up in seven-day GP policy highlighted

Findings reveal that one in four evening and weekend GP appointments in England are going unfilled, leading to critics to further question the government policy of forcing weekend access.

According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) from 80 CCGs, approximately half a million appointment slots have been left empty on evenings and weekends, with take up recorded as lowest on Sundays when 37 per cent of appointments go unfilled.

With weekday evenings also seeing 23 per cent of slots going unused, the government’s controversial drive to guarantee access to family doctors at weekends is again being questioned. The British Medical Association, who oppose the government’s ‘seven days a week’ pledge on doctors’ appointments, and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have both said it is ‘shocking’ that so many appointments were going unused.

Pulse, who collated the figures, estimates that at least £15 million has been ‘wasted’ on the total of 501,396 unused extended hours slots across the 80 CCGs that responded to FOIs. This was based on NHS England’s evaluation of the scheme’s pilot.

Richard Vautrey, the BMA GP committee chair, said: “Because it has become a political must-do, everybody is jumping. We understand there is huge pressure from the centre on CCGs to demonstrate they are providing a full seven-day service. Sensible CCGs that want to use their resources in a better way are under pressure to maintain a service that really isn’t good value for money.”

Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “GPs want to give patients access to services they need but this will differ depending on local demographics. At a time when general practice is struggling for resources and patients are waiting longer for routine appointments, to find out so many evening and weekend appointments have been unfilled due to lack of demand is shocking.”