Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley told doctors in Yeadon he would like to see them have more power when he came to Yeadon on Tuesday.

Mr Lansley said he wanted GPs to take the lead in commissioning services locally and in organising out-of-hours cover. He talked about his proposals in a meeting with local GPs, practice managers, nurses and health visitors at the Silver Lane Surgery, in Yeadon.

He was joined by Tory prospective Parliamentary candidates Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) and Julia Mulligan (Leeds North-West).

He said from the point of view of patients the doctors they saw should be the same people who were making decisions about their access to hospital services.

“A million people visit their GP practice every day,” he said, “so the majority of contact with the health service is with the general practitioners. Most people see the GP as being the person responsible for their treatment – and GPs are the people they trust.”

Mr Lansley said during his meeting at the surgery the issues of the out of hours service was also discussed.

He accused the government of blaming GPs for failings in the out-of-hours service despite the fact that it was the government that introduced the new contract that took the service out of their hands.

Practice manager Jenny Thakur said: “It was an opportunity for the GPs to voice their concerns, because the NHS has been in such a turmoil recently."