Tory plans could see 30,000 GP appointments lost in Coventry – Burnham
Thursday, 04 March 2010 16:04 | 
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Tory plans could see 30,000 GP appointments lost in Coventry – Burnham
· In 2007 the Government saw through tough GP contract reforms to make a proportion of GP pay dependent on GP practices offering bookable appointments for their patients and evenings and weekends. The Conservatives opposed this contract, and say they will scrap it.
“Would the Conservatives really be prepared to scrap the Government’s current target of having half of all GP practices offering extended hours within the next three years?
“‘Yes we would,’ says Mr Lansley.“
Andrew Lansley, Interview with Pulse, 29 April 2008
“The Conservative party has announced it will axe the Extended Access DES and scrap targets for evening and weekend opening, but refused to confirm whether that money would be redeployed elsewhere.
“Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said this week that even though three out of four practices now offer extended hours, his party would stand by its pledge, revealed in Pulse in April last year, to hand back control of opening hours to GPs.”
Pulse, 20 May 2009
· As a result of the new contract, the number of GPs offering evening and weekend opening has steadily increased since 2008 so that now 62.5% of GPs in Coventry offer bookable evening and weekend appointments, on average 3 hours per practice each week. Until the new contract, just 10-12% of GPs offered evening and weekend opening. Extended hours data is available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/PrimaryCare/DH_089459
· The terms of the GP contract mean that those 62.5% of practices in Coventry who have taken up the new incentive payment are required to open for an additional 30mins of evening and weekend opening per 1,000 patients.
· Assuming five appointments per hour, this means that the new access incentive payment accounts for 30,000 evening and weekend appointments each year in Coventry.
· The Conservatives say they would let GPs go back to setting their own opening hours, meaning that they would no longer have to offer these new additional appointments.
"We also believe we should be free to determine the opening hours, size and locations of our practices, in response to our patients' needs..."
2020health GPs petition, drawn up by the Conservative Party and cited by David Cameron in his speech to the King’s Fund, 21 April 2008
"Extending GP opening hours obviously brings benefits for patients, but the Government should not centrally prescribe how long GP surgeries should be open for. Instead, access and opening hours should be determined by GPs in response to their patients' needs, which can vary considerably.”
Mark Simmonds MP, Shadow health minister, Conservative press release, 12 August 2008
· Before April 2008 and the contractual reforms, fewer than 12% of patients were offered appointment times outside 8-6 on Mondays to Fridays. Removing the incentives in the new contract would mean that GPs would be able to return to the shorter opening hours most of them offered before 2008.Tory plans could see 30,000 GP appointments lost in Coventry – Burnham
· In 2007 the Government saw through tough GP contract reforms to make a proportion of GP pay dependent on GP practices offering bookable appointments for their patients and evenings and weekends. The Conservatives opposed this contract, and say they will scrap it.
“Would the Conservatives really be prepared to scrap the Government’s current target of having half of all GP practices offering extended hours within the next three years?
“‘Yes we would,’ says Mr Lansley.“
Andrew Lansley, Interview with Pulse, 29 April 2008
“The Conservative party has announced it will axe the Extended Access DES and scrap targets for evening and weekend opening, but refused to confirm whether that money would be redeployed elsewhere.
“Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said this week that even though three out of four practices now offer extended hours, his party would stand by its pledge, revealed in Pulse in April last year, to hand back control of opening hours to GPs.”
Pulse, 20 May 2009
· As a result of the new contract, the number of GPs offering evening and weekend opening has steadily increased since 2008 so that now 62.5% of GPs in Coventry offer bookable evening and weekend appointments, on average 3 hours per practice each week. Until the new contract, just 10-12% of GPs offered evening and weekend opening. Extended hours data is available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/PrimaryCare/DH_089459
· The terms of the GP contract mean that those 62.5% of practices in Coventry who have taken up the new incentive payment are required to open for an additional 30mins of evening and weekend opening per 1,000 patients.
· Assuming five appointments per hour, this means that the new access incentive payment accounts for 30,000 evening and weekend appointments each year in Coventry.
· The Conservatives say they would let GPs go back to setting their own opening hours, meaning that they would no longer have to offer these new additional appointments.
"We also believe we should be free to determine the opening hours, size and locations of our practices, in response to our patients' needs..."
2020health GPs petition, drawn up by the Conservative Party and cited by David Cameron in his speech to the King’s Fund, 21 April 2008
"Extending GP opening hours obviously brings benefits for patients, but the Government should not centrally prescribe how long GP surgeries should be open for. Instead, access and opening hours should be determined by GPs in response to their patients' needs, which can vary considerably.”
Mark Simmonds MP, Shadow health minister, Conservative press release, 12 August 2008
· Before April 2008 and the contractual reforms, fewer than 12% of patients were offered appointment times outside 8-6 on Mondays to Fridays. Removing the incentives in the new contract would mean that GPs would be able to return to the shorter opening hours most of them offered before 2008.Labour today set out plans to improve GP access by abolishing GP practice boundaries. But Conservative plans to let GPs cut their opening hours could see more than 30,000 GP appointments lost every year in Coventry.
Labour’s Health Secretary Andy Burnham said,
"People should take a long hard look at what the Tories say their plans are for the NHS. Evening and weekend opening hours are a keenly felt benefit for the millions of patients who need to be able to see a GP at a time that's convenient to them.
“Hard pressed families will be shocked to discover that for all his talk about understanding the concerns of real people, David Cameron is actually prepared to see the loss of more than 30,000 GP appointments at the evenings and weekends in Coventry and more than 4 million appointments across the country."
Jim Cunningham MP said,
“Thanks to Labour’s reforms, families in Coventry are now able to book GP appointments outside working hours in the evenings and at weekends. But the Tories say they would let GPs cut their hours, making it more difficult for you to see your doctor when you need to. People in Coventry will be asking if David Cameron’s Conservatives are really in touch with the needs of working families.”
Labour today set out plans to improve GP access by abolishing GP practice boundaries. But Conservative plans to let GPs cut their opening hours could see more than 30,000 GP appointments lost every year in Coventry.
Labour’s Health Secretary Andy Burnham said, "People should take a long hard look at what the Tories say their plans are for the NHS. Evening and weekend opening hours are a keenly felt benefit for the millions of patients who need to be able to see a GP at a time that's convenient to them.
“Hard pressed families will be shocked to discover that for all his talk about understanding the concerns of real people, David Cameron is actually prepared to see the loss of more than 30,000 GP appointments at the evenings and weekends in Coventry and more than 4 million appointments across the country."
Jim Cunningham MP said, “Thanks to Labour’s reforms, families in Coventry are now able to book GP appointments outside working hours in the evenings and at weekends. But the Tories say they would let GPs cut their hours, making it more difficult for you to see your doctor when you need to. People in Coventry will be asking if David Cameron’s Conservatives are really in touch with the needs of working families.”
In 2007 the Government saw through tough GP contract reforms to make a proportion of GP pay dependent on GP practices offering bookable appointments for their patients and evenings and weekends. The Conservatives opposed this contract, and say they will scrap it.
“Would the Conservatives really be prepared to scrap the Government’s current target of having half of all GP practices offering extended hours within the next three years?
“‘Yes we would,’ says Mr Lansley.“
Andrew Lansley, Interview with Pulse, 29 April 2008
“The Conservative party has announced it will axe the Extended Access DES and scrap targets for evening and weekend opening, but refused to confirm whether that money would be redeployed elsewhere.
“Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said this week that even though three out of four practices now offer extended hours, his party would stand by its pledge, revealed in Pulse in April last year, to hand back control of opening hours to GPs.”
Pulse, 20 May 2009
As a result of the new contract, the number of GPs offering evening and weekend opening has steadily increased since 2008 so that now 62.5% of GPs in Coventry offer bookable evening and weekend appointments, on average 3 hours per practice each week. Until the new contract, just 10-12% of GPs offered evening and weekend opening.
The terms of the GP contract mean that those 62.5% of practices in Coventry who have taken up the new incentive payment are required to open for an additional 30mins of evening and weekend opening per 1,000 patients.
Assuming five appointments per hour, this means that the new access incentive payment accounts for 30,000 evening and weekend appointments each year in Coventry.
The Conservatives say they would let GPs go back to setting their own opening hours, meaning that they would no longer have to offer these new additional appointments.
"We also believe we should be free to determine the opening hours, size and locations of our practices, in response to our patients' needs..."
2020health GPs petition, drawn up by the Conservative Party and cited by David Cameron in his speech to the King’s Fund, 21 April 2008
"Extending GP opening hours obviously brings benefits for patients, but the Government should not centrally prescribe how long GP surgeries should be open for. Instead, access and opening hours should be determined by GPs in response to their patients' needs, which can vary considerably.”
Mark Simmonds MP, Shadow health minister, Conservative press release, 12 August 2008
Before April 2008 and the contractual reforms, fewer than 12% of patients were offered appointment times outside 8-6 on Mondays to Fridays. Removing the incentives in the new contract would mean that GPs would be able to return to the shorter opening hours most of them offered before 2008.
