INEVITABLY, much of my correspondence about the NHS this week has centred on the strike by Junior Doctors over Saturday pay – the main issue left on the table.

Through negotiation, approximately 90 per cent of the contract has been agreed with the BMA, including agreement on overall hours and pay.

The Government has agreed that anyone working one Saturday in four or more, should get higher premium pay rates (30-50 per cent higher on Saturday dependent on which hours are worked within the day). This is a better deal than nurses, paramedics or other public sector workers such as police officers and firefighters.

However, the government’s commitment to ensuring improved access to care and standard of outcomes at the weekends as during the week extends beyond hospital settings to the whole NHS – and this week also saw major announcements around GP availability – an issue that has also cropped up in my casework recently.

Supporting General Practice is at the heart of the government’s commitment to a high quality, seven day health service. The multi-billion pound New Deal for General Practice offers investment to support GPs, improved access to services for working people across seven days, and develop new ways of providing patient care.

As part of the plan, the NHS will earmark an extra £2.4 billion a year for GP services by 2020/21.

This will be supplemented by a £500 million package to help GP practices add to their work force and tackle workload. Incentives for training, recruitment, retention and return to practice will deliver 5,000 more GPs and there will be 3000 new fully funded practice-based mental health therapists, an extra 1,500 co-funded practice clinical pharmacists, and nationally funded support for practice nurses, physician assistants, practice managers and receptionists.

I have met with a number of practices already taking great strides towards introducing innovative ways of working and integrating different services into their practices to ease the burden on GPs and make it easier for patients to see the right health professional without a hospital referral.