Why aren’t GP Surgeries open at the weekends?

[Nosleepforthismum]

Wondering why most GP surgeries don’t open at the weekends? Is it because of GP shortages and not wanting to piss off the already overworked and overwhelmed doctors? Due to a shortage of GP’s in general or some other reason?

Coming off the back of another A&E trip this weekend for my three year old DS. He gets croup unusually severely and his breathing always gets extremely laboured which requires Dexamethasone to bring it back under control. We’ve done this trip a number of times as often he gets ill over a weekend or a bank holiday and so inevitably we are sent to A&E. The times he’s fallen ill on the week days we’ve been seen and treated by the GP.

Would it not be a better system if GP surgeries were open at the weekend to relieve the pressure on A&E? Am I just being a bit too simplistic to think this should work?

And how is that funded?

UK lacks GPs so if they work weekends to cover emergencies (which is expensive!) less patients will be seen Mon- Fri.

As an aside, drop in clinics are very good but they aren't in all areas and some aren't really drop ins as they require you to make an appointment. But they work really well when they are available.

Most practices are contracted to provide services 8.00-18.30 weekdays, excluding bank holidays. However most practices also offer some "extended access" on evening and weekends (but may not be at the usual practice site, this is contracted and funded differently to the core contract.

To fund true 7 day opening at individual practice level you would be looking at not far off 40% increase in funding in a situation where funding hasn't kept up with costs already.

UK lacks GPs so if they work weekends to cover emergencies (which is expensive!) less patients will be seen Mon- Fri

Most staff who work weekends are paid the same as working weekdays - the days of double time on a Sunday are long gone. And we are not talking about "emergencies". But people aren't only ill Monday to Friday so it is a bit silly that there is no weekend service other than A&E in many areas.

Because GP's seem to get away with working very part time hours yet getting paid crazy money.
Always think it's very unfair on the surgeons/doctors in hospitals who are required to work 24/7 and likely get paid no more (if not less) than the GP who gets to work part time, day time, week day hours sitting at their desk often either dismissing patients or completing hospital referrals for them! I would say perhaps they are paid for their knowledge, but half the time they look up what to do on the 'medical Internet'!

My GP used to have a surgery on Saturday morning for people who worked during the week - sadly they've not restarted it since COVID but it made sense

They never have been open at the weekends here-like schools,

Out dentist has seats been open Saturdays though.

GPs won't give their time away for free. Be sure of that.

GPs aren't the answer to a lack of service at 111/A&E outside office hours.

I thought it was because Gordon Brown stuffed up the overtime/ on call negotiations back in 2007.

happy to be corrected. I was ill a lot when I was young and urgent home visits from a GP were a thing at that time. can’t get a home visit any time now, weekend or week.

There will be lots of factors at play.

But that argument applies to a lot of workers, not just other NHS staff in hospitals. Police and other law enforcement agencies, fire service, highways agency, transport workers and taxi staff, hotel staff and other hospitality workers, some IT staff, call centres. Those people tend to be off at other times to compensate unless they want overtime.

I am 44 i remember gp out of hours service think it might still exist that when you ring yiur doc they would give you the out of hours number then see you. This happened to me once where I used to live they even picked u up if no transport as was much further than normal docs. In another place the out of hours gp woukd be at hospital. Right now we have a walk in clinic plus a and e at same hospital and yiu get signposted to which service

Education is schedule-able, though. You can't schedule ill health.

So be it. At least access would be more spread out across the week. Not this dearth of help for 2 consecutive days.

Maybe this didn't help in 2004?

www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/19618517.gp-crisis-dates-back-massive-pay-rise-given-blair/

It doesn't have to mean more staff though? You just need to find staff that don't mind working upside down hours some people prefer working weekends I honestly did when I didn't have children weekends are busy rather a day off in the week when I can go places in peace and quiet instead

And it doesn't need to be a full service either

Some do have Saturday appointments. It would be good if more did that but they struggle to get enough staff anyway and getting them to work weekends would be very challenging.
I think it would be more useful if they were open later during the week, so last appointment at about 8pm. But again that could be unappealing for staff.
It's very stressful work and they can't really work more than a certain number of hours before it can become clinically risky.

GP Receptionist here

Yes.

It DOES means there has to be admin, nursing staff on site and management on call, if not on site also

There are minimum staffing levels to maintain, lone working policies to adhere to and should any admin or paperwork need doing, the admin staff (Band 2s like me) have to do it

""He also succumbed to allowing them to stop working evenings and weekends for a £6,000 salary reduction.

Who amongst us would refuse a salary increase of about £35,000 for doing less work? Such an attractive offer was gleefully accepted by nearly all. We have all witnessed the slow decline in the service provided since then.""

Seriously?!! I am a previous GP who now works in palliative care. Hospital doctors are not the saints people think, nor GPs the villains. Do you expect teachers to work 7 days and nights and bank holidays?? No!! Hospital medics work on a rota. The GP version of that is out of hours. And I have a huge amount of knowledge, I don’t generally need Google

Well, that’s working on the assumption that you maintain current service levels Mon-Fri.

Given current GP service levels are atrocious in many areas, it’s perfectly reasonable to investigate whether reducing some appointments during the week in order to have them at the weekends would be better all round.

Our GP surgery has never been open at weekends except for things like flu jabs in the autumn, and during Covid for those jabs. You have never been able to make an appointment to see a doctor at the weekend.

Because the government will not fund positions for GP services on the weekend. Simple as 🤷🏻‍♀️

I remember the days when there was GP on call over the weekend for each town and they would come to your home. Services are being stripped, slowly but surely, before each of our very eyes. Unfortunately until you need to use it, or unless you work in it, you will be oblivious.

Cause it's transferred to out of hours. It's the way the govt re contracted them in about 2007

I think mine does one evening surgery a week for FT workers, which is pretty good. People don't always work near to their GP, and it's so hard to get a scheduled appointment now at a time which suits. Sometimes you're waiting weeks for one which is at the start of end of the day. In many jobs eg schools, you cant just disappear late morning to travel miles to go for a 10 minute appointment to discuss your high blood pressure or get a rash checked out.

Ours used to do sat am surgery and the GP from the practice would be in call all weekend for the area. Govt took the out of hours away.