DOCTORS AND NURSES will be available to provide care to patients across the South West in the evenings and weekends by next year, the Government has announced.


The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said he wants the NHS and GPs to offer patients more tests, treatments and services closer to their home, avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital and almost £29 million in extra local funding will be invested into the NHS next year to improve GP access, modernise surgeries and improve out-of-hospital care.


£12.4 million of this money is part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund to improve patient access to local GP services, which includes extended evening and weekend opening hours for 1.5 million people registered in 191 practices can juggle trips to the GP with their busy family and working lives.


Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “The NHS is moving with the times. By keeping in touch with how people live their lives, far more NHS services, tests and treatments will be offered closer to people’s homes at times that suit them.


Care Minister Norman Lamb said: “Our investment in out of hospital care will not only improve and join up services where people live but also keep people healthier in the community for longer.”