THERE will probably be few people who visit their doctor on a regular basis who would argue with the suggestion from David Cameron that GP surgeries should be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Access to GPs is often a major bugbear for many people, particularly those who work full-time and whose job hours coincide with the opening times of their local medical practice. Some GPs might not like the idea but they generally receive good salaries and nowadays have more of a nine-to-five working life than many people, as evening and weekend calls are often staffed by others, rather than the GP a patient is used to seeing.

It is already difficult to get an appointment at many surgeries and those people who work usually have to take time off to get to see their doctor. So it is certainly about time that the GP system was encouraged to better reflect the working realities of the modern age where access to services such as these is required, by many, out of traditional hours.

Obviously, this will require change to some degree in the working practices of many GPs but it should not be too onerous a task for weekend rotas to be drawn up, especially in the surgeries where several doctors practise.

There have already been calls for more resources and cash to make it work but whether or not the extra funding the Govern-ment is promising will be enough to fulfil its ambitious proposals remains to be seen.

At the very least, the scheme would take some pressure off A&E departments at the weekend as they are currently the only option for people concerned about their health - and, surely, that can only be a good thing.