A number of family doctors will go on strike for an hour on Wednesday in protest at government plans to remove the right of patients to choose their GP.

Currently, patients have a legal right to choose their family doctor, but the government wants to change the law so that patients must attend a GP who has a contract with their health insurer.

This will allow health insurers to be more selective when buying in health care, and end the current practice of insurers having to pay health providers with whom they have no contract.

Health minister Edith Schippers thinks the move will help keep insurance premiums from rising so fast.

More power

The family doctors’ association VPH is against the plan because it puts more power into the hands of the insurers. ‘The power of the big four national health insurers, who have 90% of the market, is already onacceptably large,’ a spokesman told broadcaster Radio 1.

The one-hour strike is intended to alert patients to the change in the law which will remove their right of choice, the VPH said. ‘Choosing your family doctor is a civil right,’ the spokesman said.

If the change goes ahead, patients will either have to attend a family doctor chosen by their insurer or pay for visits themselves.

Schippers is due to discuss the plans in parliament on Thursday.