GP practices are to open at weekends to help meet demand for “unprecedented” levels of patients experiencing winter illnesses.
Around 40% of Lanarkshire’s 104 general medical practices - covering half the health board area - will be open every Saturday in January from 8.30am to 12.30pm, starting this weekend.
NHS Lanarkshire said all GP surgeries had been asked to consider extending their opening hours.
Glasgow’s health board said there were no plans to open practices at weekends but out-of-hours services were available.
Dr Iain Wallace, Medical Director for NHS Lanarkshire, said: “We are working closely with our general medical practice colleagues to respond to the increased need for GP appointments.
“We’ve asked all practices to consider extending their opening hours to cover Saturday mornings in January and we’ve had a great response.
“This increased capacity will help meet the high level of requests for a GP appointment and address the difficulty that some patients are experiencing in getting a GP appointment.”
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