GP service in England offered

One in 10 surgeries are to offer UK patients the choice of seeing a GP at evenings and weekends, booking appointments online, receiving electronic prescriptions and having checkups over Skype, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday.
According to The Guardian, the prime minister unveiled the £50m scheme in October amid fears that too many people are turning up to A&E when they cannot get appointments with their GP, putting too much pressure on emergency departments.
Doctors were invited to apply for funding, and demand for the money means seven million patients at more than 1,100 practices — rather than the 500,000 patients envisaged — will benefit from the trials from next month.
However, Labour raised concerns that the majority of people still have unacceptably long waits to see their GP because the government removed a requirement for patients to be seen within 48 hours.
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, said it had become much harder to get a GP appointment under the coalition.
“The big problem with this new plan is that it won’t benefit millions of people,” he said.
“For the vast majority who are outside of this scheme, things will carry on getting worse and they are being told to expect to wait a week for a GP appointment.
“No wonder more and more people are turning to A&E, which has just had its worst year in a decade.”