Seven-day NHS is ‘unrealistic’ and professionals are already working at their limits, says top doctor
Royal College of GPs chief, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, says making doctors work at the weekends could have a serious impact on care on weekdays
A SEVEN-day NHS is "unrealistic" and NHS professionals are already working at their limits, a top doctor has warned today.
The Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners says proposals could have a serious impact on the care given on weekdays.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said that GP services were "already spread far too thin" and that patients can always see a GP urgently through current out of hours services.
She told Sky News today: "The whole system is stretched... you can't just keep opening more and more hours.
"We have to draw the line somewhere," she added, and expressed concern at filling the extra 5,000 GP roles.
The Government promised at the 2015 election to make some NHS services available 7 days per week, and have pledged to improve access to doctors at evenings and weekends.
But Ms Stokes-Lampard said that it was "unrealistic in the current climate. We haven't got the people, we haven't got the resources."
She said that the College had asked for nurses to be exempt from possible future migration limitations, as Britain could be left short when we leave the EU.
The doctor urged the Government to invest more money into general practises so that doctors could provide a better weekday service.
She also said that there was no clear demand for appointments at GP surgeries on weekends.
The doctor claimed that pilots done in the UK and 50% of appointments were not filled on Sundays.
Just last week she also warned that patients could be forced to wait up to four weeks to see a GP, as services continue to be put under serious strains due to rising populations and people living longer.
The Government insisted it would deliver on its pledge.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "This is a common-sense reform with wide public support - and one we will deliver."