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position paper 1. The RCGP recognises the Government’s aspirations to extend access to general practice and supports the concept of providing extended GP access where it is practicable and where there is a clear demand. We are however concerned that- given the current resourcing and workforce crisis in general practice- the Government’s proposals to provide all patients with seven day access to routine GP care by 2020 are not deliverable and risk compromising patient safety, as well as destabilising existing services. We urge the Government to adopt an alternative strategy, which prioritises the shoring up of existing five day services and boosting GP led out of hours care, whilst allowing local commissioners the flexibility to tailor levels of extended hours provision to meet the needs of their local populations. 2. The majority of GP surgeries in England (60%) already provide some form of extended opening, with 17 % open over the weekend and 53 % providing extended opening hours (outside the core hours of 8am-6pm).1 According to the GP Patient Survey, 74.9 % of respondents said that they were happy with their GP opening hours2