Cameron talks about a seven-day NHS but he cannot even deliver five-day care

We know that GPs are the gatekeepers of the NHS, providing a first point of access to other NHS services. In fact, 9 out of 10 patient contacts in the NHS are with GPs. If we don’t properly invest in and support general practice then the rest of the NHS starts to crumble. 

The last Labour Government understood this. Before Labour introduced the extended opening hours scheme for general practice, only one in ten surgeries were open in the evening and weekends. Over a year later, three quarters of surgeries were offering evening and weekend appointments – covering more than 6,000 surgeries and delivering over four million additional appointments a year.

This reduced pressure on other parts of the health system and ensured that patients got the care and support they needed, when they needed it.

But under David Cameron general practice has gone backwards. Six years of failed Tory NHS polices have left GP services in crisis. Primary care is underfunded, understaffed and unable to cope with rising demand.

Spending on general practice has been cut in real-terms by almost £250m. There are now fewer GPs per head of the population than there were in 2010, while demand has increased from a growing and ageing population.

According to the latest survey, a quarter of patients had to wait a week or more to see their GP or they didn’t get an appointment at all the last time they tried. That’s more than 14 million people waiting nationwide – up by more than 500,000 compared to last year.

David Cameron talks about a seven-day NHS, but in reality he is failing to deliver a five-day NHS in primary care. Patient care is suffering as a result. 

Many of those patients who can’t get a timely appointment with their GP then turn to A&E. Hospital A&E departments were already under pressure, but this additional demand is pushing them to breaking point.

On Thursday Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, announced a long-awaited package of support for GPs.  Any extra support and investment for GPs is welcome.

But the money announced is not new money. It is coming out of the existing NHS budget and this will have a knock-on effect for other parts of the NHS.

The package announces plans to increase the number of GPs. However, it takes a minimum of three years of specialist training to train as a GP after 7 years for a medical degree and foundation training.

There has been a crisis in GP recruitment in recent years, with 13 per cent of GP training places being unfilled last year. With around one in three GPs considering retirement in the next five years, general practice is facing a workforce crisis that needs to be addressed urgently.

The GP Forward View also includes a plan to recruit 1,500 co-funded clinical pharmacists to work in general practice. Yet, at the same time, Ministers plan to impose a 6 per cent cut on community pharmacy budgets. There is a real concern that this could lead to up 3,000 high street pharmacies closing. Community pharmacies can take pressure away from GP practices, so it makes no sense to do this in the way the Government has so far planned.  This cut to community pharmacy is just bad policy. 

The test of the Government’s plan for GPs will be whether it can undo the damage done by the last six years of Tory policies. I and the shadow Health team will be paying close attention to see whether it passes that test.

Barbara Keeley MP is shadow Minister for Health