Proposals made by a senior consultant at the Royal Cornwall Hospital to get GP surgeries to offer “walk-in” appointments at weekends have been criticised by a doctor on NHS Kernow’s governing body.
Emergency department (ED) consultant Andy Virr said he believed it could offer a solution to ED overcrowding.
But Dr Rob White, who’s a GP as well as an NHS manager, said that, with 12 practices in the county already opening on Saturdays for routine appointments, trying to staff walk-ins would take vital resources away from the out-of-hours service.
He said: “General practice is also under an incredible amount of pressure … This doesn’t cover the urgent care.
“This means that if you remove some of these folk to do Saturday mornings [walk-in appointments], you don’t have an out-of-hours service, and we vitally need that service.”
Article from BBC news, 27 February 2018