The Papers: Concerns about NHS on front pages

The head of the NHS in England, Simon Stevens, is in the news this morning. According to the Times, five million patients a month are waiting more than three weeks to see their GP. And the paper says 1,000 fewer family doctors are in post than when ministers pledged to recruit an extra 5,000 in 2015. Mr Stevens' plan for joined up care to keep patients out of hospital "relies on beefed-up GP surgeries offering more treatment and co-ordination locally, but despite extra money, £20,000 'golden hellos' and overseas recruitment drives, numbers continue to fall", the Times adds. Meanwhile, Mr Stevens is said to be at loggerheads with Downing Street, the Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care about how much his long-term plan for the health service can promise to boost care.