Cameron announces GP voluntary contract to provide seven-day-service

The seven-day hospital services are expected to spread to ‘half the country’ by 2018 and include the whole of England by 2020. Mr Cameron made the declaration in Manchester at the Conservative annual conference.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has counselled that the current recruitment crisis means a seven-day-service is simply ‘unrealistic’. Mr Cameron’s comments have come as the government denies pressuring officials, who are pushing to delay the publication of figures depicting the financial performance of the NHS.

According to a report in the Observer, NHS regulators such as Monitor were used as a crutch to delay the performance of figures revealing treatment waiting times and financial performance in order to avoid embarrassment at the conservative conference.

Health officials have assured that the information revealing NHS performance is expected to be published shortly.

Cameron insisted on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that the a seven-day-a-week NHS service was a “really exciting prospect”.

He said: “It's getting an extra £10bn of money during this Parliament, over and above inflation, and that enables us to meet some really clear goals.

"Parents and people in our country want to access the NHS on a seven-day basis.
"Let me be clear, this doesn't mean that all staff in the NHS have to work every seven days, it just means the services are available.”

Trials of seven-day GP access have already been established. By March 2015, 18 million patients have been enabled extended access. However, a recent survey has found practices in some areas have scaled back weekend opening due to limited demand.

The GPs union has further warned that a seven-day-access is not only unachievable but risks destabilising care.

A spokesperson for the conservatives has voiced that voluntary contract will be funded from the additional £10 billion of NHS investment promised by the prime minister over the course of Parliament.

Labour representative, John Ashworth has cautioned audiences not to trust Cameron’s promises. He said: “What the Tories have done is take the health service backwards - under them it is harder to see your GP and waiting lists are higher."

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