Dr Mary McCarthy: How about time off to see doctor?

To medical and nursing staff this seems a strange claim since this already exists. Hospitals are open day and night, medical care is accessible at any hour of the day and any person falling ill at night or weekends is cared for.

The Government's statement has had some unfortunate repercussions. I have heard of several occasions where some patients have believed it, and consequently have not tried to get a doctor over a weekend because they thought there was no-one available. They have waited, with gradually worsening symptoms, from a Friday to a Monday, when they have finally contacted their doctor and obtained help.

They have been told that they could have called on Friday night, any time on Saturday, all day Sunday and been assessed and if necessary admitted to hospital. They have seemed surprised to hear that which shows how well the government gets its ideas heard and how badly doctors do. It's now known amongst doctors as "the Hunt effect" after the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt.

There always is, and always has been, emergency and urgent medical care available over nights and weekends.

General practitioners used to do their own on-call for their own patients but in Shropshire doctors decided to band together to share the emergency duties of nights and weekend. They called their new group Shropdoc and it is still going strong. It is recognised nationally as a centre of excellence and its organisation and mode of operation is studied and copied in other areas.

It is not just extra doctors and nurse that are needed. If you are stretching a service you need more technicians, IT technicians, drivers, cooks, cleaners, radiographers, pathologists,secretaries and managers.

Maybe we ought to approach this from the other end and make employers and industries give their workers time off to see their doctor or dentist. That might be easier and cheaper than trying to stretch the NHS.