PM's Pledge For Seven-Day Access To GPs

David Cameron will guarantee every NHS patient access to a GP seven days a week by 2020 under plans to be unveiled at the Conservative Party conference.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce a £100m spending boost to improve access to family doctors should the Tories win next year's election.

The plans seek to ensure more people will be able to see their GP between 8am and 8pm on weekdays and weekends.

GPs will also take responsibility for individual patients as part of a new GP contract being launched by NHS Employers.

Mr Cameron is expected to say: "People need to be able to see their GP at a time that suits them and their family.

"That's why we will make sure everyone can see a GP seven days a week.

A £100m spending boost will be announced to improve access to GPs

"We will also support thousands more GP practices to stay open longer, giving millions of patients better access to their doctor.

"This is only possible because we've taken difficult decisions to reduce inefficient and ineffective spending elsewhere as part of our long-term economic plan.

"You can't fund the NHS if you don't have a healthy, growing economy.

"This will help secure a better future for Britain, where people can be confident that when they or their loved ones need it, our NHS will be there for them."

:: David Cameron will talk to Sky News at 7.30am. Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

The announcement comes after Chancellor George Osborne claimed the Tories, not Labour, are "the real party of the NHS".

Last year Mr Cameron set up a Challenge Fund for GP access which allocated £50m to 20 health groups.

Under a second wave of proposed funding, practices will be able to bid for awards from the extra £100m fund.

Mr Cameron says people need access to GPs at times that suit them

Sky's Political Editor Faisal Islam said the NHS is set to be "front and centre" of the campaign leading up to next year's election.

"This is a new front, the NHS. They (the Conservatives) won't cede this ground to Labour," he said.

"They are convinced that if Labour is ahead on the NHS in polling and behind on the economy, they have to have a strong promise on the NHS.

"This is the beginning of what we will get and it's going to be a continuing battle."

But the commitment has already drawn criticism from Labour, which argues the government has made it "harder, not easier" for patients to get a GP appointment.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "David Cameron made an almost identical announcement this time last year but, in the 12 months since, he has made it harder, not easier, to get a GP appointment.

"After the election, David Cameron scrapped Labour's GP appointment guarantee and cut support for evening and weekend opening. His broken promises on the NHS have caught up with him."

On Monday, Mr Osbourne announced a two-year freeze on benefits for those who could be working.

Mr Osborne said Britain can no longer afford to be a country where £100bn is spent on paying benefits for those of working age.

"Families out of work should not get more than the average family in work," he said.

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GP Practices Face Closure Over Dangerous Care

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Up to 200 GP practices across England face the threat of closure for providing potentially dangerous care to thousands of patients, the chief inspector of family doctors has warned.

In his first major broadcast interview, Professor Steve Field told Sky News that a handful of surgeries would be shut down straight away after being found guilty of "serious failings".

And he said scores more would be given a year to improve - or face being closed down as well.

The warning comes as the Conservatives promise to invest an extra £100m a year to provide seven-day GP cover.

Prof Field said most severe problems were found in single doctor practices

Prof Field, the Chief Inspector of GPs for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said preliminary inspections suggested that up to 200 of the 8,000 practices in England are failing.

Problems included:

:: Late referrals for patients suspected of suffering from cancer, with potentially fatal consequences

:: Wrong medicines being prescribed to patients

:: Over-prescription of antibiotics

:: Child vaccinations not being stored in fridges, putting hundreds at risk

:: Out of date and unhygienic premises

:: Staff shortages and "chaotic management"

Prof Field said that the most severe problems were found in isolated, single doctor practices. "The writing is on the walls" for these type of practices, he said.

Up to 200 GP practices across England are facing the threat of closure

In many of these cases he said the problems had been known about for years, but authorities had not acted.

Prof Field's team have been carrying out pilot checks on surgeries for the past year.

Last December it was revealed that one such check had found maggots at a surgery in Nottinghamshire.

Prof Field said that preliminary results following this process suggested that 2% were failing with large variations in standards of care.

He added that when the inspections were first launched almost one third of practices were struggling to achieve all of the basic standards.

That number had now dropped to below 20%, he said.

Prof Field vowed to act against unsafe surgeries even if politicians protested at the closure of their local practices.

"While there is a small number of practices which are very worrying - probably looking at only about 2% - they can affect hundreds or thousands of patients potentially. So this is very serious.

Many other practices will be given a year to improve

"For the small number of practices [providing unsafe care] they will either improve or they will cease to practice. We will remove their registration."

Prof Field said that the 160 to 200 surgeries found to be failing would be given extra support from NHS England to help them improve.

"Unfortunately there are some ... which have gone on for years failing and people haven't drawn a line and said enough is enough. For those we will take urgent action.

"General Practice is the jewel in our crown and we're undermined by a small percentage of GPs who are not providing the care our patients deserve."

All 8,000 practices in England face inspections from next month and the CQC's findings will be published under a new Ofsted-style regime.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of BMA GP committee, said: "We know that  a lot of GPs are working in an environment that is extremely difficult and challenging, in premises that are not fit for purpose.

"And yet they cannot find another place to work in because there are no funds to relocate them. It would not be right to criticise or blame them for factors outside their control."

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