RCGP: Seven-day service plans impossible without further investment

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has criticised the government's failure to offer a realistic explanation of how it intends to introduce seven-day GP services within the NHS.

Responding to health secretary Jeremy Hunt's speech on the topic at the Conservative Party conference, the organisation said the current plans risk heaping more pressure on overworked doctors.

It noted that family doctors are currently delivering 370 million patient consultations a year, 60 million more than five years ago, despite diminishing resources.

According to the RCGP, at least 5,000 more family doctors are needed in England alone over the course of this parliament, while general practice needs to receive 11 percent of the overall NHS budget.

It also calls for more detail on the proposed 750 million pound infrastructure scheme before it judges how helpful it will be.

Dr Maureen Baker, chair of the RCGP, said: "Mr Hunt is living in cloud cuckoo land if he thinks that we can deliver a seven-day service against a backdrop of the current GP shortages and such a small share of the NHS budget for general practice."