JUST 10 per cent of GPs in Worcestershire have extended their opening hours in line with Government requirements, new figures have revealed.

The figures, supplied by the Department of Health yesterday, show that only six out of 67 practices in the county have introduced longer evening and weekend opening hours.

The figures were gathered by Government sources through a census on Monday, September 22, and are the most up-to-date available.

The figures for Worcestershire are well below the national figure which shows that more than half of 8,275 practices (4,250 practices) – 51 per cent – were offering extended opening hours on the census date, a rise of six per cent from August. But Dr Simon Parkinson, secretary of the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee, defended Worcestershire GPs and said it was “unsafe” to open extended hours.

He says more staff are needed in surgeries to make them safe at night but that GPs cannot afford to do this safely.

As reported in your Worcester News Dr Parkinson has been attacked with a knife and has witnessed physical assaults on his staff.

The Redditch GP, who has yet to introduce the extended hours at his own practice, said GPs would lose £6,000 each a year in Government cash if they did not introduce extended hours (in his case about eight-and-a-half hours extra a week).

He said: “It’s not safe. I’m not going to sit in my surgery on my own on a dark winter’s night with one receptionist. We’re not unusual in that. I don’t know why they’re giving us such a hard time here.

“We’re in discussions to see if we can get around this but the Government and the Strategic Health Authority are not being helpful.”

But Worcester MP Mike Foster said plans for extended hours and the new 8am to 8pm GP-led health centre must carry on.

He added: “Illness is not a nine-to-five activity. Extended hours and greater access through the GP-led health centre is a must if we are going to get a truly personalised National Health Service.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, which manages the work of GPs, said 37 out of 67 practices offered some form of extended hours but that the Government had different, more stringent criteria.

The PCT counts a practice as opening extended hours if some of the GPs work late and at weekends whereas the Government only counts it if the entire practice has switched over to this system.