Challenge to claim that GPs see half patients on same day
NEW figures suggest almost half of all doctors’ surgery appointments in Derbyshire take place on the same day they are made, but residents still report they have to wait “weeks and weeks” to see their GP.
Of the 550,000 appointments that take place across the county each month, 43 per cent of them are recorded as being on the same day.
The figure was revealed by Emma
Prokopiuk, NHS Derby and Derbyshire’s head of GP commissioning and development, in a meeting of Derbyshire County Council’s improvement and scrutiny committee for health.
However, councillors questioned the figure, having received reports from residents of difficulties getting appointments.
Councillor Dave Allen said: “Anecdotally that is not the public perception, they say they’re having to wait weeks and weeks.”
Councillor Peter Smith added: “Councillors are on the ground speaking to residents and they’re saying they can’t get a GP appointment, so what do they do?
“They phone 111 and they’re directed to a drop-in centre or a local hospital, which is then putting more burden on that part of the NHS. We need a change of hearts and mindsets in relation to GP practices.”
Councillor Ed Fordham challenged the figure, saying the previous day when he had tried to make a doctor’s appointment, he had been told to call back the following day before 10.30am to get one the same day.
He claimed this distorted the figures, stating: “That means it’s not a same-day appointment, but you register it as a same-day appointment.”
Ms Prokopiuk said it was up to different GP practices how they approached the situation.
“It’s obviously not ideal is it?” she admitted. “Even though they’re putting on more appointments now than they did pre-pandemic, it’s just still not enough, so I think we need to do things differently.
“Whether we monitor the statistics to make sure we know what practices are doing, it’s just really difficult isn’t it? The demand is so high.”
Ms Prokopiuk explained appointments were not necessarily with a GP, instead, they might be with a nurse or appropriate healthcare professional.