This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Hunt to follow through with routine Sunday GP appointments
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has maintained he plans to go ahead with implementing routine GP appointments until 8pm on Sundays.
The news comes despite evidence from pilots which have suggested the uptake of the strategy had been ‘very low’ outside of Saturday morning. However, Hunt has said that the ‘seven-day routine GP services had been a clear manifesto commitment’, and as such, the government would push ahead with it.
The news comes after the House of Commons Health Committee’s recent primary care inquiry recommended that the government should carry out further evaluation of seven-day GP services before funding a full roll-out.
Hunt said: “When it comes to GP care we have… been very clear that yes, we do want people to be able to make routine appointments at the weekend. We think that is an important thing for the NHS to offer to people who work…
“We have made a clear manifesto commitment that everyone in England will be able to make routine appointments between 8am - 8pm at weekends.”
Some MPs on the committee suggested that the implementation of an out-of-hours GP service running alongside the new routine GP hub could be confusing to patients. However Hunt maintained that proper integration between out-of-hours services and NHS 111 would ensure this did not happen.
He added: “We need to make sure people are appropriately sign-posted because I agree that at the moment it is much too confusing.”
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