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?

@Nosleepforthismum

Would it not be a better system if GP surgeries were open at the weekend to relieve the pressure on A&E?

Not really sure how. Our GP surgery don't offer anything like minor injuries, walk in clinics, etc., so they aren't able to dress wounds etc. If you want a GP appointment, there's very little chance you'd get one same day anyway, so even if you could phone on a weekend, you'd not get the consultation for a few days.

Out of hours services are available. Remember gp's have 3 year olds too! There is no child care etc on weekends so how can they work?

How can they work… Do hospital doctors, nurses, porters, paramedics, retail staff, cinema staff, theatre staff, police officers, firefighters, 999 call handlers, waiters, chefs, hotel receptionists, etc etc etc not have 3 year olds?!

My gp is open 8am to 5.30pm which of course is when most people are at work. It’s a nightmare trying to even get an appointment, even if you can get one you have to take time off work for said appointment or to collect a prescription. I have given up (which is no doubt the intention) and use a private gp where I can easily get an appointment at a convenient time. Oh and every so often they suspend my repeat (prescribed by specialist) prescription because it has to be “reviewed by the gp” Every time the gp calls they do not know what said medication does or what it’s for. Total waste of time.

In answer to the OP, GP practices are commissioned to provide medical care within 'core hours'. There is also commissioning of some Extended Hours. They are not commissioned/paid to provide services outside of this time.

111, MIUs and A&E are commissioned to provide urgent and emergency care outside of core hours.

GPs are neither saints nor overpaid lazy devils. They do a job, sometimes rewarding, sometimes very hard and/or thankless, do it to the best of their abilities, then want to go home, recharge and see their families, just like any other person. They are reasonably well paid: if they are Partners, they may earn very well but take on the risks of the business, and if things go badly, may earn nothing at all. If they are non-Partners, pay is reasonable but not generous and is considerably less than it would be in a fully private healthcare system with market forces allowed to act (and less than professional peers within similar length or level of study). For the amount of training (which is lifelong) required, disruption to life of the training process and risk of litigation in the job, they do not earn well.

Funding for GP is miniscule compared to all other medical services even though GPs provide the vast majority of daily patient contacts. And it has stagnated, whilst people are older, sicker and have very much higher expectations of what medicine can and should achieve.

It is a wonder than any young doctor choosing a training pathway chooses GP.

I hope your child is better, OP. I would suggest that 111 is probably the appropriate service, but not wrong to use A&E.

Even if we were part of a rota, there would be a skeleton staff and even fewer people who'd want to do this job as who would work for minimum wage and no OOH/unsocial hours pay

We're Band 2, even after the pay rise, we'll be minimum wage plus £100 a month

There are other jobs, for other employers, which pay better money

Our GP surgery was open this weekend for flu jab clinic. Nurses and receptionists on site rather than doctors.

It seems like GP is one of the few doctor jobs you can make work around a family.

There was a weekend service where I live, provided from a “Hub”. It was underused, people just decided they had something better to do on a weekend. You also wouldn’t see your own GP necessarily, so couldn’t do a lot of routine stuff, this was passed on to the “regular GP”.

BTW there was 111 bashing a few days ago on here. Now it’s the turn of GPs. I feel a teacher bashing thread coming soon. MN sport.

@Nosleepforthismum I remember when I was young, there were no appointments. you just walked in and asked who was last in then said right then, I am after you. It was normal for docs to still be in surgery till 7pm - 7.30pm. the doc would collect the patient files themselves as they went to get the next patient from the waiting room. those days are long gone. to have 24 hour gp service would mean also having 24 hr admin working alongside. no one needs to work longer hours nowadays. a/e is the alternative for those needing urgent attention. not to be confused with extended gp hours.

Well said.

Or you don’t have admin staff at the weekend and it’s all piled on to Mon-Fri, ie delay in referrals etc.

I used 111 for the first time yesterday. They booked me a GP appointment 2 hours later at an out of hours hub- had the choice of 4 different centres. I was actually quite impressed. My own GP practice was closed but the 111 system worked very well.

I think there is an element of not wanting to run everything else for longer too. Like yes you could put less GPs on weekday day times and more on in evenings and weekends in a way that would mean the service overall GP hours worked was the same and could be covered by the same number of GPs working the same number of hours each. However it's all the stuff that goes with that:

• you probably can't do with less receptionists just because less GPs are working
• you certainly would need 1 receptionist per practice even if just 1 or 2 GPs were working
• The building would need cleaning, at least the areas that had been used between days, so that's one cleaner even if it's only one toilet, one area of the waiting room and 2 GP rooms.
• You'd not be happy if the building was cold and dark for weekend/evening appointments - so that's electric, heating etc. (And probably in older surgeries you couldn't just heat one or two consultations rooms and the loo, it would be the whole building!)

Our local out of hours centre (where you would get referred to if 111 determined you needed treatment before Monday), is busy, big and well staffed. But if probably takes from maybe 50 GPs surgeries and it won't take anything like the resources 50 GPs surgeries would take to run.

Because GPs aren’t there for emergencies.

Mine is open weekends and bank holidays... restricted times.
We also have a walk in centre.
If you ring 111 they will send you to the nearest out of hours.

Personally, I'm glad of the new pharmacy rules. I hope it helps where gp services are no weekends. Alas, not for things like croup I think?

We were a&e frequent fliers for a few years as ds gets tonsillitis basically twice a month for 5/6 months of the year. Strep a few times too annually. Feels such a waste of resources and time having to a&e because it's a Saturday and he needs antibiotics before he goes from not taking fluids to floppy, which is a matter of hours. We've tried to hold out until Monday before and instead he ends up with IV antibiotics, hydration, and several days stay on the children's ward... We have no minor injuries, and out of hours is through 111, but they usually send us to a&e instead.

A very recent development at ours has been that we can have appointments at weekends and late evenings. They are not with your own GP but another doctor. I had one at 8pm during week and another time Sunday afternoon! This is over period of last 2 years. Brilliant service. X

Because staff need a break?
There are GPs available at the weekend though- in our area it's 111 call and if they think you need to see a GP it's at the clinic attached to A&E rather than your usual surgery

No one expects staff to work 24/7!! have a rota maybe?

Mine is open Saturday and Sunday mornings and evenings 6-8pm

Needs more funding and more staff.

Because there aren't enough of us GPs for during the working week, let alone 7 days per week.

Hospital doctor here.

1. There aren't enough GPs to cover weekday hours let alone weekend surgeries.

1. The public don't like going to the GP/hospital out of hours for non emergency appointments. Many healthcare settings do offer late appointments. They are really hard to fill.

Also

1. An out of hours GP service already exists

Mine used to. No idea if they still do. It's a large practice with a number of GPs, so they will have more flexibility than some other places.

They were open this weekend, because they were doing a very efficient production line of flu and covid jabs, but I don't think any other services were on offer.