BMA Rejects Plans for Longer Surgery Hours

BMA Rejects Plans for Longer Surgery Hours

The British Medical Association (BMA) has criticised government plans for longer GP surgery hours, saying they don't reflect what most patients want and that doctors would be too tired to deliver a good service.

The plans, which were announced in December, would require GP surgeries to open three more hours a week and it is understood that the prime minister Gordon Brown expects them to open until 8pm one night a week. Under the plans, practices that do not comply could lose as much as £36,000 a year.

Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee, said: "We are being bullied so that the prime minister can tick a box next to a politically driven target. A significant number of GPs do not consider longer opening hours to be efficient use of resources."

The government has rejected an alternative proposal from the BMA and is in consultation with the profession before introducing changes in April.

BMJ, 5 January 2008