Alan Johnson is a writer and former Education, Health and Home Secretary for the Labour party, and his latest book 'Harold Wilson - Twentieth Century Man' is published by Swift Press

In a typical piece of straight talking this week, Wes Streeting expressed his exasperation with the doctor’s union, the BMA .

When I was Health Secretary I felt equally frustrated by their antics. In 2008 with NHS waiting times slashed from an average of two years under the Tories to eight weeks and public satisfaction with hospital care at record levels, the last Labour government set out to improve access to GP surgeries .

Some enlightened practices already opened on Saturday mornings for the convenience of those many patients who worked on weekdays and parents who didn’t want their child to be taking

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