All GP practices in England will open on Saturdays under a contract update, according to reports. They will also have to offer bookable weekday evening appointments from 6.30pm to 9pm, a letter from NHS England said.
GPs will be required to provide a 'range of general practice services' under a 'full multi-disciplinary team', including for services such as screening, vaccinations and health checks.
Although some practices across the country already offer late-night or weekend services, this will become mandatory from October 1 this year. READ MORE:'Every shift is a knife edge': How Omicron brought our NHS - and its staff - 'one admission away from disaster' The plans were set out in a letter sent yesterday by the director and medical directors of primary care at NHS England and NHS Improvement setting out general practice contract arrangements for the next financial year.
More evening and weekday appointments for GP services were previously agreed in 2019, though the implementation was delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
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