A shake-up of GP services will be included in a white paper on reform of primary healthcare to be published before the end of the year. Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, yesterday called for a period of intense public debate about "family health services", a term coined in the Department of Health to show GPs do not have a monopoly on caring for patients in the community.

Tony Blair was wrong-footed during the election campaign when asked about GP waiting times by Diana Church on the BBC's Question Time. She said GPs were forcing people to wait until the last minute to book appointments for fear of missing the target that requires all patients to be able to see a doctor within 48 hours. Mr Blair said the situation she described was "absurd" and promised an investigation.

Ms Hewitt made no mention of the prime minister's embarrassment when telling the NHS national leadership network of preparations for the white paper yesterday.

She said primary care included dentists, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and staff at NHS Direct, walk-in centres and minor injuries units, as well as GPs.