Doctors discuss ‘immediate’ move to reduce ‘core’ working hours to 9-5 – shaving two and a half hours –

GPs will vote on whether to shorten center office hours by two and a half hours per day.

The proposal came in the midst of a huge debate about the family doctor’s hours of operation and the “zip code lottery” for making appointments.

The Avon Local Medical Committee (LMC) will present a motion calling for reduced working hours for primary care physicians at a conference in York next month.

Surgeries are now routinely performed between 8:00 am and 6:30 pm, but on a vote doctors may request that this be reduced from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Urgent action is needed to manage the imbalance between the workload of doctors and their staff.

The GP Worklife survey found that by 2021, more than half of primary care physicians were working six sessions per week or less, with each session lasting four hours and 10 minutes. About one-fifth of the workforce saw patients in four or fewer sessions, 12.4% worked in five sessions and 27.9% worked in six sessions.

It comes after a report this month revealed that a third of primary care doctors who make an average of £100,000 a year want to retire within five years. According to government-sponsored studies, about six in 10 primary care physicians currently work for three-day weeks.

GPs complained of increased workload and paperwork, high demands from “problem patients” and “not enough time to do their job justice”.

They also say that arguing about the lack of personal dates lowers morale.

Dozens of patients complained of difficulty reaching their primary care physician.

As part of an effort to increase access levels, NHS chiefs have ordered since October that operations should open on Saturdays and have evening appointments on weekdays.

Representing GPs in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, Avon LMC’s proposal will be heard at the UK’s annual local medical committees conference in York from 10-11 May.

Pulse magazine claims “immediate action” is needed to rectify the discrepancy between the lack of capacity, according to its reports.

At this time, clinics will not be open during central hours, but should provide adequate service to meet patients’ needs and ensure that arrangements are made during these hours in case of emergencies.

The graph shows the number of doctor’s appointments per day in January. Since 2019, GPs have been called to work in the evenings and on weekends. However, only 22,000 patients were seen on average on Saturday in January, compared to around 1.2 million patients on weekdays.

If the proposal is approved, this means that appointments before 9:00 am and between 17:00 and 18:30 may be accepted outside of working hours.

NHS England, which regulates the financing of primary health care, must sign up at every step.

It comes in the middle of a line in family doctor office hours, with results from an annual survey showing that family physicians worked an average of 38.4 hours per week in 2021, up from 42.1 in 2008.

Family physicians reject claims of part-time work, arguing that work hours go far beyond their sessions.

Doctors say those working in fewer sessions often spend the remaining hours in other parts of the NHS.

The resolution is causing tensions between doctors and the NHS, with the lack of face-to-face appointments and longer evening and weekend hours exacerbating the ongoing dispute over patients’ access to GPs.

NHS Digital data released today shows that only 60% of appointments in January are made in person, up from 61% in December.

Less than half of all consultations in parts of the country are now face-to-face, and only 37% of people in Bury see their doctor face-to-face during the month.

Before Covid hit the UK, eight out of ten appointments were made in person. But during the pandemic, that figure has dropped to less than half.

Even now, the percentage of face-to-face consultations has only returned to 61%.

The new NHS contract requires primary care networks – primary care groups – to schedule delivery of appointments in the evenings and on weekends.

But the British Medical Association is debating whether a doctor should really be “physically” present at these appointments.

Meanwhile, a separate motion from the Cambridgeshire and Cleveland LMCs to be heard at next month’s conference calls for plans to introduce “safe workload limits” for general practices to protect staff and patients.

Another motion states that the public emerged from the pandemic with “extra and unrealistic expectations from general practice.”

The resolution, which was tabled by Ayrshire and Arran LMC, calls for an education campaign for patients to “use properly” self-care and turn to pharmacy, optometry and dental services.

Participating doctors will also vote on whether patients who abuse GP practices should be removed from their lists and whether all hospital doctors should work in GP practices as part of their training.