ROTHERHAM has been announced as one of 12 areas around England where patients will be able to visit their GPs at evenings and weekends under Government plans for new practices.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson will today announce proposals for extra practices in poorly served areas, as well as for a £105 million investment in existing GP practices.
The 12 Primary Care Trusts set to gain a new GP practice include Rotherham,
which will receive more than £1.1 million by 2010/11, as its share of a £250 million access fund announced last autumn to pay for at least 100 new GP practices in the most deprived areas and 152 GP-led health centres.
GPs reluctantly agreed to accept extended opening hours in March after bitter wrangling with the Government over plans to open the average practice for around an extra three hours a week.
Mr Johnson said: "There has been some recent scaremongering about the future of GP practices. Today's announcement shows we are not only committed to Britain's excellent family doctor system, but also to expanding it, encouraging GPs to provide more services, closer to where people live, so they don't have to make so many unnecessary trips to hospital.
"Improving access to primary care is also a key priority if we are to deliver more personalised care that meets the needs of individuals and communities, especially those in more disadvantaged or deprived areas."
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