Posted on by Shifali Gorka
(photo credits: National Cancer Centre/Unsplash)

GPs of England’s Local Medical Committees are seeking to cut down their working hours by 2.5 hours from 8 am to 6.30 pm to 9 am to 5 pm. In the 2022 Annual Conference of England LMC representatives held on November 24, 2022, 147 GP representatives voted in favor of the proposal. Whereas, 84 GP representatives voted against it.

The proposal to cut down working hours brought tension between patient groups and the GPs. The public criticised the proposal saying that it will make it even harder for patients to get appointments.

Currently, all practices are needed to provide services between the hours of 8 am and 6.30 pm, Monday through Friday. However, If the proposal is successful, it will become almost impossible to see a GP in person.

The move to reduce the working hours comes after the new league tables revealed patients’ difficulty in getting face-to-face appointments with a doctor. Records show that just one in eight GP appointments are carried out in person at England’s worst-performing practices.

Meanwhile, according to national data, only 44 per cent of appointments in October were with a GP, the lowest proportion since records began in 2018. The vast majority of appointments were with other members of the practice’s staff, such as a nurse, health visitor, or physiotherapist.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Dr Amir Khan, a doctor from Bradford defended LMC ‘s call to reduce the working hours. He said: “It’s a really tricky one. I’m a GP, I usually start at 7am and usually finish at about 6.30pm to 7pm. This 9-5 is the time they see patients. No GP I know works within the hours they are contracted.

“What this suggests is that GPs are humans as well, we have got families, we have children. We want to be able to live as well as work. Because of the shortfall of GPs across the country, the GPs that are working are working under huge pressure and that is impacting their home life and their relationship with their families”, he added.

During the 2022 Annual Conference of England LMC, Dr Paul Evans, from Gateshead and Tyneside LMC, who laid the proposal complained the current core hours are discriminatory against the GPs and said: “I know too many GPs who have quit their partnerships [or] their salaried jobs or who are just coming out of training who are not prepared to take on a permanent role because of the hours and because they cannot see a way to make it work with childcare opening hours and with family life”.

”Do you want some of their time or do you want none of their time – just little bits in locums here there and everywhere?”, he added.

Whereas speaking against the proposal, Dr John Allingham from Leeds LMC said: “it is important we don’t score own goals”.

“Consultants have found themselves vilified recently for not working weekends, it’s important that we don’t make ourselves a target for the media by insisting on working 9-5. I don’t think having 9-5 working will win hearts and minds”, he added.

An  experienced GP, Terry Lock condemned the move of reducing working hours. He wrote in a tweet: “I am at the end of my GP career and simply don’t recognise the profession I joined 40 yrs ago I don’t share these views of access and we should do more not less. GPs vote to CLOSE their doors at 5pm despite average £112k salaries”.

A teacher from Surrey, Em Hensby, tweeted: “I’m a teacher , and I can tell you that I don’t work 9.00-5.00pm , I wish I did !!!! As for reducing hours , I think MY GP practice already has !!!! Pretty fed up with nurses & GPs thinking they are special. All jobs play a vital role in this country”.

Another Twitter user, Leanne Belshaw, who owns a fitness studio in Eccleston showed her disapproval of the proposal. She wrote: “I’m not against a work-life balance but surely this will make it harder to get a doctor’s appointment. I tried to get a telephone appointment for my son as I wanted to discuss something regarding a referral they did and told me I had to wait 5 weeks for the next phone appointment!”.