24/7 GP NHS - Sorry But It Won't Happen

As most of you will know I am a committed Conservative supporter but I have to say that I believe the 7 day a week GP service et al that has been announced today is a promise too far.

I really would love to see it happen but it cannot. Why? Simple matter of funding and logistics. There are nowhere near enough GPs in this country to make this a nationwide promise. It can take anything up to 10 years to train a GP which includes medical school, so where will they come from? In Lincolnshire the GP surgeries are struggling to provide the service they do now because of poor GP retention and the lack of GPs wishing to come and work in this area.

Secondly funding. It will take more money to provide a 7 day GP service than the government can provide. It is not just a case of providing the monies to enable GPs to work over the full week but there is also the additional cost of the support staff, administration, nursing, etc.

There is absolutely no problem with aspiring to provide all of this but to do so is, in my opinion, is beyond the ability of both the government and primary care.

I hope I am wrong but this does seem a promise too far!