18million patients waiting a month to see their doctor

MILLIONS more people waited longer for a GP appointment last year than in the previous 12 months, NHS data shows.

Some 17.6million patients faced a wait of four or more weeks, up 38 per cent, or 4.8million, compared with 2022, as the health service struggled to cope with rising demand.

Meanwhile, there were 61million appointments last year for which the patient had waited two weeks or longer, up 22 per cent.

This comes as the average number of patients registered with each GP practice has passed 10,000 for the first time.

The figure reflects the move towards larger hubs, and the closure of small practices that are no longer seen as financially viable.

There were 6,317 GP practices in England on February 1, with just under 63.2million registered patients, giving an average of 10,001 patients per practice. This represents a 42 per cent rise since the start of 2014/15, according to analysis by website GP Online.

Dr Steve Taylor, from Doctors’ Association UK, said: ‘One of the indications here is the unviability of smaller GP practices.

‘Patients are more likely to have to travel to see a GP, less likely to see their own GP.’ He said surgeries are closing because the savings GP practices can make ‘ has reached its absolute limit’.

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, which analysed the GP appointment data, said patients should have a legal right to see their doctor within a week, or 24 hours if urgent. ‘Patients across the country are in a desperate position,’ he added.

But NHS England said GPs had carried out a higher overall number of appointments in December 2023 than December 2019, before the pandemic.

Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England national director for primary care and community services, said: ‘The NHS published a plan last year to improve access to GP services, which includes upgrading telephone systems to make it easier for people to contact their general practice, while more than 36,000 additional staff have joined GP teams since 2019.’

However, the Royal College of GPs said there were ‘642 fewer fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs’ working in England.

JAN MOIR IS AWAY