Intended for healthcare professionals

News

General practice opening hours to be scrutinised

BMJ 2017; 356 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j1266 (Published 10 March 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;356:j1266
  1. Adrian O’Dowd
  1. London

From October general practices in England will be financially penalised if they close during core working hours during the week, the chief executive of NHS England has said.

Simon Stevens told MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee that changes to the GP contract, which will be introduced in October, will allow NHS England to scrutinise GP opening hours more closely and take action where necessary.

MPs were reviewing progress on access to general practice after a report was published in January by the financial watchdog the National Audit Office.1 The report said that though the government’s intention to improve access to general practice in the evenings …

View Full Text

Log in

Log in through your institution

Subscribe

* For online subscription