I don't want my surgery open on public holidays   

So practices should open on bank holidays should they? What a brilliant idea from NHS24!

Not content with forcing practices to open at times of tiny demand, and deliberately misinterpreting survey results to support their decisions, we now have government bodies asking for practices to open on public holidays.

Once again we are seeing the trickle down effect of ministers' aggressive behaviour towards GPs and their staff. The big boys put the boot in first and the rest just can't help themselves.

I could list numerous practical reasons why this is an idea that should be stopped in its tracks. But I'll restrict my argument to one very fundamental reason - I'm a taxpayer and I object to my money being spent inappropriately and inefficiently on services that would never stand up to any serious cost-benefit analysis.

In a different political climate this suggestion would probably never have seen the light of day. But the government's anti-GP agenda has created a climate in which practices are available to take on every piece of work that the rest of the NHS is struggling to do.

I don't want to see my surgery's staff and resources stretched to open at times when I - and the vast majority of the practice population - don't need it to be open.

If I think I need to see a doctor on a bank holiday then I'll weigh up my options in the usual way: can it wait until tomorrow or is it so bad that I have no choice but to visit my local A&E.