GPs urged to accept later surgeries

LONDON (Reuters) - Health Secretary Alan Johnson has written to every family doctor in England urging them to accept plans to make them work evenings and weekends.

The government says extended hours would help patients, but doctors' leaders fear it would put huge pressure on surgeries.

"Significant numbers of patients consistently tell us that improving access to GP services should be a priority for the NHS," Johnson wrote in the letter, released by the Department of Health on Monday.

"We want to work with all GPs to achieve this aim."

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, has rejected government plans to give the average-sized surgery an extra 12,000 pounds a year to open outside office hours.

Johnson said doctors could negotiate their own deal with local NHS bosses if they do not back the national agreement.

The BMA said doctors were prepared to work evenings and weekends, but fear it will not improve patient care and could be followed by calls to work even longer hours.

In a letter sent to doctors last month, the BMA's Laurence Buckman, who chairs its general practitioner committee, said the proposals were politically motivated.

"The NHS is undergoing some significant and worrying changes which demonstrate a lack of value placed on the quality of general practice," he said.