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The 25/8 working week

‘We’re living in a 24/7 culture,’ says the health secretary, ‘but really we should be living in a 25/8 one’

The government has unveiled its plans to create a whole new day of the week which they’re going to squeeze somewhere in-between Thursday and Friday. ‘Creating an extra day will give the millions of people who can’t see a doctor because of work and family commitments the chance to attend an appointment. We think asking GPs to work eight days a week will transform the service and provide greater continuity of care,’ said a spokesperson.

Reaction to the proposal was sought from the general public and we spoke to Julie who we found wandering aimlessly in a North London shopping centre:  ‘I think it’s a great idea, I mean at work I just sit and spend hours Googling foreign holidays and talking about how mental my weekend was so it would be nice to have some proper time to go to my doctor’s. I had this like really itchy finger and I couldn’t get time out of work to go and eventually it went on its own but it would have been nice if my doctor could have looked at it for me, even if it was just to tell me that I’d completely wasted his time’.

Calendar expert Professor Candid says: ‘Calendars are fascinating, especially the ones with little chocolates inside them, I love those ones… Yummy! However, I have a warning for the government: don’t you dare mess with the days of the week, if you don’t believe me just look at what happened to Henry VIII when he introduced gout-day, think on!’

Not to be put off, a smiling health secretary added: ‘We’re very excited about this and we’ve already decided to call the extra day of the week Wednesday!’

 

Dr Kevin Hinkley is a GP in Aberdeen.