article_snippet: Opening GP surgeries at weekends would mean two million fewer patients waiting in A&E every year.
article_snippet: Academics also believe the NHS should pay GPs more to open routinely at weekends – possibly by using cash saved from the reduction in visits to
article_snippet: A&E. Research shows that if GP surgeries were open at weekends would mean two million fewer patients waiting in A&E every year.
article_snippet: These services are now subcontracted to private firms which patients either do not trust or do not know how to get hold of, instead going to
article_snippet: Four of the surgeries offer weekend appointments to all patients as part of a Government pilot project launched in 2013.
article_snippet: The scheme – called the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund – involves 1,147 English GP surgeries which were each given a slice of £50million to ensure several practices in the area stay open seven days a week.
article_snippet: He said the Government should consider giving GPs extra funding to open GPs surgeries at weekends permanently.
article_snippet: For the vast majority, seven-day opening remains an aspiration and telling patients that patients can walk into patients local surgery in the evenings or at weekends risks raising expectations that general practice cannot live up to with current resources.
article_snippet: Investing in longer opening hours may not be the best route to improving care in every area.