The issue of opening times at general practices has become a cause célèbre. It is a strange debate, though, because we are tied up in arguments about access and totally missing the real (but obscured) point.

According to the government, the point is that people, especially working people, want to see a doctor out of standard office hours. The government has been vigorously supported by the Confederation of British Industry, which says that the way primary medical care is organised means industry loses 38m working hours and £1bn annually because people have to take time off work to see their GP during “working hours”. This is at odds with the government’s survey (which itself cost £11m) on patient satisfaction. Almost 2.3m people were asked what they thought of GP opening times and 84 per cent said they were happy with their local practice’s hours.