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BMA rejects government proposals for longer hours for GPs

BMJ 2008; 336 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39437.635579.DB (Published 3 January 2008)
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:14.3

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  1. Lynn Eaton
  1. 1London

    GPs’ leaders have found themselves fighting back over plans—stemming from 10 Downing Street—to force general practices to open for longer. The government said just before Christmas that it intended to impose a contract on GPs that could mean that practices that don’t comply will lose as much as £36 000 (€49 000; $72 000) a year.

    The BMA leaders argue that the proposals don’t reflect what most patients want and that doctors will be too tired to provide a good service.

    At a briefing just before Christmas, Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, told journalists that the government had “effectively put a gun to our head.”

    He said, “We are being bullied so that the prime minister can tick …

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