Small general practices could eventually disappear causing great damage to primary health care in this country.

Jeremy Lefroy said:

“The GP Patient Survey 2006/2007 conducted by IPSOS MORI for the Department of Health showed that patients in small practices (under 2,000 patients) were very satisfied with the service they received. For instance, 93% were satisfied with telephone access to their surgery compared with 80-89% for larger practices; and 91% were able to see their GP within 48 hours compared with 83-86%.

“This is not meant as a criticism of larger practices – the GP service in the UK is first-class and envied around the world. However it is a warning of what we will lose if the small practice disappears.

“A lot of the pressure on small practices is coming from Government access targets. A small practice with one or two doctors will not be able to open all hours in the way that a larger practice might through cover – doctors already work long hours and in small practices this would push them to breaking point. So the only option will be for them to merge with others or close. That would be a tragedy for their patients – often the elderly or vulnerable – who value them so highly.

“I believe that we need flexibility. There is certainly a need for some practices to open later in the evenings and on Saturdays to meet the needs of those who are working during the day.

“But patients who wish to remain part of a small practice with a doctor whom they know well should be able to do so, even if that doctor cannot open all the hours the government would wish.”

Mr Lefroy made it clear that – as he is married to a GP in a small practice in Stoke-on-Trent – it was a difficult decision to speak out as he could be accused of a conflict of interest.

However he said that he was so convinced of the value of small practices to the NHS that he felt he had to so. “We are at risk of losing something which works and which is of great importance to millions of people in the UK.”