- Thousands of GP practices are closing their doors on afternoons, while others take a three-hour lunch break
- A report published yesterday said surgeries’ part-time hours were partly to blame for the crisis in hospitals
- It highlighted how half of the 7,600 practices in England closed at least once during the normal working week
- Some accused of playing system and claiming extra cash by staying open slightly later one evening a week
- Mail found closed surgeries in London, Birmingham, Derby, Plymouth, Bristol, Cambridge and Newcastle
Thousands of GP practices are closing their doors on weekday afternoons, while others take a three-hour lunch break every day, an investigation by the Daily Mail has found.
Anxious patients or parents with sick children who are unlucky enough to fall ill during these times have no choice but to go to already stretched A&E units.
Yesterday a report by the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee said surgeries’ part-time hours were partly to blame for the crisis in hospitals. It highlighted how half of the 7,600 practices in England closed at least once during the normal working week, including a fifth that took one or two afternoons off.
Some surgeries were also accused of gaming the system and claiming extra cash by staying open slightly later on just one evening a week.
The reduced opening times of GP practices during normal working hours drastically limit the availability of appointments.
Many patients with urgent concerns do not want to wait, so go to their nearest casualty unit where they can be seen far more quickly.
Leading doctors and nurses say conditions in A&E are the worst they have ever experienced, and pressures are set to intensify over the next few days with a severe cold snap.
The Mail yesterday visited surgeries in London, Birmingham, Derby, Plymouth, Bristol, Cambridge and Newcastle which had all closed for the afternoon. Our reporters encountered anxious patients hoping to see their GP who had no idea the doors would be locked.
Many said it was extremely hard to get an appointment and several – particularly parents – admitted going to A&E instead.
Under their NHS contract, GPs have to provide a ‘service’ to patients between the core hours of 8am and 6.30pm. But surgeries do not necessarily have to be open during these times, as long as they tell patients to call the NHS 111 helpline or an out-of-hours provider.
Among the surgeries visited by the Mail was the Kingsway Medical Practice in Burnage, Manchester, which offers no appointments after 11am on a Wednesday. Edna Affleck, 81, a retired nurse, said: ‘I’ve had to wait for up to a month for an appointment so I try to avoid going and self-medicate instead.’
Another practice with limited opening hours is The Avenue Surgery in Brighton, which closes for three hours every lunchtime.
Patient Chareen Edwards, 26, who has three children under five, said: ‘If there is anything badly wrong with the kids I have to take them to the hospital and sit in A&E, which is totally wrong ... I’ve complained to anyone who will listen but they don’t pay any attention.’ Controversially, surgeries can receive an extra £8,200 of NHS funding a year if they open slightly longer for one evening a week. They are entitled to this even if they close for a long lunch or on a midweek afternoon.
The River Place Health Centre in North London is closed on Wednesdays from 1pm. Christine Wheeler, 71, said: ‘It’s almost impossible to get an appointment ... I’ve had to call 111 for GP issues and when I had a chest infection shortly after Christmas I had to spend two hours in A&E.’ David Morgan, 34, turned up at the nearby Highbury Grange Health Centre at around 1.30pm yesterday hoping to see a doctor about pain in his hand – only to be told he was too late.
He said: ‘It’s a real inconvenience to be honest. I’d much prefer to see a GP face-to face than call 111. If it gets worse I am going to have to go to A&E later in the day.’
The Pavilion Surgery in Brighton closes between 11.45am and 2pm daily. A 68-year-old patient, who did not give their name, said: ‘It seems like they’re never open ... it used to be you could see a doctor whenever you were ill. Now I think you’d probably die before you saw your GP.’
The Ladybarn Group Practice in Withington, Manchester, is closed from 1pm on Wednesdays. Zoe Eagle, 26, a hairdresser and mother of a four-year-old, said: ‘I had to take my daughter to A&E a year ago – she had a really bad temperature and was coughing constantly. I couldn’t get her in here. I don’t like going but sometimes there is no other option.’
Earlier this week, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tried to blame patients turning up with minor illnesses for the overcrowding in A&E. But campaigners pointed out that they had no choice when it was so difficult to see a GP.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said the limited hours were ‘concerning’. And shadow health minister Julie Cooper MP said it was ‘glaringly obvious’ that the Government would not be able to recruit the 5,000 new GPs promised by 2020.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: ‘In a climate of inadequate funding and severe staff shortages, GPs are working flat out to keep up with the unprecedented demand.
‘While some GP practices may close their front door during core hours for reasons such as staff training or lack of funding, as part of their contract they will still provide arrangements for patients to receive services.’
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, added: ‘While a practice may be temporarily closed to patients, it does not mean that care isn’t being delivered – GPs may still be using this time to conduct telephone or online consultations for patients, or by making home visits.’
The Mail contacted the surgeries and several of the local health trusts in charge but they would not provide comments.