Sunday GP appointments ‘not in demand’, research suggests

The survey includes the opinions of more than 800,000 patients across England and was conducted in response to the government’s aim for GP practices to offer a seven day service, in a bid to reduce the pressure on A&E.

However a number of doctors’ leaders say the move is not the best use of NHS resources.

The research was conducted by a team from the University of East Anglia and the University of Oxford. It used utilised data from the 2014 General Practice Patient Survey, which accounted the views of more than 8,000 GP practices.

In response to the question ‘is your GP surgery currently open at times that are convenient to you?’ A total of 81 per cent responded ‘yes’, while 19 per cent said ’no’. Of those who were unhappy about opening times, 76 per cent confirmed they were in favour of weekend opening.

Of this proportion, a further three out of four cited Saturday as a more convenient time to see a doctor, while only one in three said Sunday would be a preferable opening time.

Of the groups who favoured weekend times, the study found it consisted mostly of younger people, those working full-time and those who could not get time off work. In contrast, people who were happy with the current opening hours included those with illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, learning difficulties or mobility problems.

Dr John Ford, lead researcher from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said Sunday opening was not targeted at patients who needed to see their GP the most - such as older people with long-term health problems.

He said: ”General practice is facing huge challenges in terms of workload and workforce, so we need to think carefully about where to spend precious resource.
"We should also remember that currently it is possible to see a GP out of hours over the weekend for urgent problems."

Dr Maureen Baker, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Our patients have better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than have their ears syringed.
"We hope this research will quell the government's obsession with seven-day working once and for all."

She said a better use of the NHS's dwindling resources would be to invest in thousands more GPs, a ‘robust, routine five-day service’ and existing GP out-of-hours services.

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