A quarter of available evening and weekend GP appointments are not taken up, a study has found, as the government pushes ahead with the introduction of more out-of-hours slots.
Data released under the Freedom of Information Act showed that half a million slots were unused between April 2017 and September this year, Pulse, the publication for GPs, reported.
Extending opening hours for GPs was a key plank of Conservative health policy under the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt. The policy is expected to cost the NHS £500 million a year from 2020-21.
Doctors’ leaders said the policy was “ridiculous”, suggesting that the money would be better spent elsewhere, with the average wait for an in-hours appointment being two weeks.
NHS England has set a