PATIENTS across York are being urged to join the fight against changes to GP surgery opening hours by writing to their local MP.

Doctors fear Government proposals to change their contracts to work during evenings and weekends would dilute resources during the normal working day - with serious implications for patient care.

GPs at Jorvik Medical Practice, in York, have composed a template letter for patients to send to York MP Hugh Bayley, calling on the Government to let doctors decide when their surgeries should open.

Dr John Givans, chief executive of North Yorkshire's Local Medical Committee, said: "Patients will suffer because if there aren't as many doctors available during normal working hours, then we aren't going to be able to see as many patients.

"People with chronic diseases, the elderly and mothers with young children, will be the worst affected.

"We won't allow it to put lives at risk, but it will certainly cause people inconvenience and cause them to put up with symptoms for longer than they need to.

"The Government is not putting patients first and the whole thing has been planned by a lunatic."

Dr David Fair, one of eight GPs at Jorvik Medical Practice, raised concerns that a skeleton number of receptionists and support staff during weekends and evenings would make surgeries an easy target for vandals and thieves.

He also said that outside of normal working hours, GPs would not be able to liaise with professionals such as laboratory workers and physiotherapists, meaning many consultations would have to repeated anyway.

But Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said longer opening hours would be more convenient for the public.

He said: "The proposal we put to the British Medical Association involves an average of an extra three hours opening per week in return for a more effective use of resources within the current contract and a 1.5 per cent new investment in primary care -amounting to just over an extra £100 million. This would be a major boost, provide greater convenience for patients and be a good deal for GPs."

The template letter for patients is available by logging onto www.jorvikmedicalpractice.co.uk