LONDON: GPs in the U.K. could be offered more money to start working in the evenings and weekends. A majority of the GPs had stopped working out-of-hours under a new contract, which scrapped their responsibility to patients outside normal working hours and which increased their pay by an average 118,000 pounds a year.
It now transpires that ministers are working on a financial incentive scheme for the GPs to persuade them to work during evenings after a major patient survey indicated that two-thirds of patients would rather want to see their GP in the evening.
The poll, covering 10,000 patients, carried out by Picker Institute Europe for the department of health, found that patients would be happy for their local practice to close during the day if it meant they could get appointments after work or at weekends. More than two-thirds said they would be happy to see surgeries close during the day if GPs offered appointments outside the usual 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. opening times. The most popular option expressed by the patients if after 6 p.m. and in the evenings.
Nearly 25 per cent of patients reported that they had been put off from going to their GP because they found the opening hours inconvenient - up from 21 per cent the previous year.
In response to the survey results, health minister Andy Burnham said it is vital to ensure GP practices are open when patients want. "Our aim is to improve convenience and lengthen the time during which patients can get routine access to GP services," he added.
The current contract is being criticized for vastly increasing the amount a doctor is paid and for allowing an opt-out to work during non-office hours, evenings and on Saturdays. Nearly 90 per cent of doctors had taken advantage of the opt-out. The NHS had to open several walk-in centers and bring in private companies to provide primary care services. Several patients are now approaching in the evening at accident and emergency departments with minor complaints because their local GP clinic is not open.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs' committee, said in suggesting for longer opening hours, the government seemed to forget why the opening hours of the new contract were agreed. He said it is unreasonable and unsafe to expect the same doctor to work through the day and then evening and weekends as well.
A department of health spokespersons said the department will not, however, be putting forward the incentive payments proposal for the 2007-08 contract. The scheme could be considered in future contract negotiations, he added. The GPs' pay deals are renegotiated annually.
