article: The government says GPs must try harder to stay open from 08:00 to 20:00, seven days a week, so fewer patients are forced to seek care at hospitals. It warned GPs risk losing extra funding if they fail to meet their commitments to longer surgery opening times. But the BMA and Labour said underfunding of the NHS was to blame. Dr Chaand Nagpaul of the BMA told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have got a very serious problem that we don't have the capacity in general practice. "The crisis in the NHS won't be solved by scapegoating or deflecting blame on to GPs." One in three GP practices were reporting unfilled vacancies, while eight in 10 said they were unable to provide safe care, he added. Why bother with seven-day GP opening? Patient films A&E corridor bed 'chaos' Leak shows full extent of NHS crisis Pressure on A&E was down to seriously-ill patients, he said, not access to GPs, and the government needed an emergency plan to tackle NHS under-resourcing. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said the "whole of general practice and primary care" was "close to the precipice" after being "under-funded and under-resourced for a decade". 32,628 GPs in England 5,000 more planned for 2020 1 in 3 considering retirement in next five years 13% of GP training places went unfilled last year Surgeries are currently expected to open between the core hours of 08:00 and 18:30, Monday to Friday. Extra funding is available to those offering appointments outside those hours. Downing Street said surgeries should do more to ensure they offered appointments in the evening and at weekends. "Most GPs do a fantastic job, and have their patients' interests firmly at heart," it said. "However, it is increasingly clear that a large number of surgeries are not providing the access that patients need - and that patients are suffering as a result because they are then forced to go to A&E to seek care. "It's also bad for hospitals, who then face additional pressure on their services." The government highlighted October 2015 figures from the National Audit Office (NAO), which showed that 46% of GP surgeries closed at some point during core hours, and 18% closed at or before 15:00 on at least one weekday. Three-quarters of those that closed early were receiving extra funding in 2015-16 to provide access outside of core hours, the NAO said. More than four in 10 hospitals in England declared a major alert in the first week of the new year. The director of acute care for NHS England, Professor Keith Willett, has estimated that 30% of patients attending A&E would be better cared for elsewhere in the system, the government said. Downing Street said the prime minister wanted to help reduce pressures on hospitals in a number of ways: Dr Matt Owen, from Manchester, qualified as a GP three years ago. "I would say demand for a seven-day week is actually not high. "I do work extended hours on the weekend. On Sundays, it is not uncommon
summary: The doctors' union, the BMA, has accused the government of making GPs in England scapegoats for the pressure on A&E departments.