The 28-day wait to see GP for hundreds
ONE-IN-15 FACE APPOINTMENT DELAY DISAPPOINTMENT
HUNDREDS of patients per week waited more than four weeks to see a GP in Huddersfield.
Figures from NHS England showed that in January one in 15 patients faced a ‘mega-wait’ for a face-to-face appointment with a doctor at a surgery in the area covered by Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
According to the figures, 3,274 waited more than 28 days between booking their appointment and seeing the GP.
Dr Richard Vautrey, GP committee chair at the British Medical Association, said the figures showed ‘clear evidence’ of the rising workload pressure GP practices were under.
While these so called ‘mega-waits’ only made up a small proportion of all appointments (6.9 per cent) in January 2019, the figure was almost double that of the previous year’s figure (3.6 per cent).
However, the majority of patients were able to see a GP much sooner.
Of the 47,715 face-to-face GP appointments in Greater Huddersfield this January, 23,815 – or 49.9 per cent - were emergencies seen on the same day they booked. Some 18,752 were seen a day later.
A further 2,695 waited between two and seven days after they booked; 7,686 between eight and 14 days; 4,516 between 15 and 21 days; and 3,313 between 22 to 28 days.
Nationally, a total of 397,413 people waited more than 28 days for a face-to-face appointment with a GP.
That represents 3.7 per cent of all patients who had a face-to-face GP appointment during the month – up from 2.3 per cent the previous January.
Dr Vautrey said: “This data, while only providing a limited snapshot of the total work that GPs do, provides clear evidence of the rising workload pressure practices are under.
“We are providing a million more appointments each month, yet with hundreds fewer GPs.
“While we know that many patients are frustrated at having to wait too long to be seen, this data shows that the largest proportion of appointments continue to be made and attended the same day, while the majority are seen within a week of booking.
“And though these figures show some patients being seen more than 28 days after making their appointment, it is important to note that many of these will be appropriately booking ahead for return visits or regular check-ups.
“What these figures do not account for is the vast range of other activities GPs complete in their dayto-day work – including training, meetings and paperwork, which add significantly to their workload. The majority of evening and weekend appointments will also not have been included, as well as some home visits and telephone triage calls.
“Recent changes agreed as part of a five-year contract deal with NHS England mean that groups of practices will be able to take on additional staff, including physiotherapists, pharmacists and social prescribers, which should both reduce GP workload and improve access to patients, ensuring they are seen by the right healthcare professional in good time.”
Greater Huddersfield CCG said Kirklees was nationally recognised as an area with particular pressures on GP numbers.
The NHS body said it was working to recruit and retain more GPs.
A spokesperson for Greater Huddersfield CCG said: “Waiting times for access to general practice is an important issue to us, and it is very important that those who genuinely need an appointment should be able to access one in good time.
“All practices also offer same-day appointments to meet the urgent clinical needs of their patients...
“Satisfaction with appointments is reflected in the national GP Patient Survey which showed Huddersfield positively in comparison with the national picture. The national Patient Survey Results in 2018 show that overall patient experience of making a GP appointment at their practice for Greater Huddersfield CCG was 70 per cent against the national average of 69pc.”
The CCG said it had implemented several schemes to reduce waiting times, including an additional appointments scheme, better signposting so patients see the right medical staff in the first instance, and using pharmacists to help with medication reviews.
The spokesperson added: “According to NHS Digital, a total of 112,604 appointments were provided in total in Huddersfield from face-to-face or on the telephone, ranging from same day to over 28 days, in January 2019. The data presented only contains information which was captured on the GP practice systems.
“This limits the activity reported on and does not represent all work happening within a primary care setting, or assess the complexity of activity. An out-of-hours service provides urgent appointments 365 days per year outside of practice opening times.
“Patients can chose a longer wait time to ensure they see the GP of their preference and sometimes the GPs will ask patients to book to see them at longer intervals for follow-up appointments. The important factors are whether the patient is happy with their appointment time and that patient safety is prioritised.”
An NHS England spokesperson said: ”Around half of all GP appointments are booked and taken on the same day, or within 24 hours.
“There is greater access to GPs now than ever before, with weekend and evening appointments across the country.”
We are providing a
million more appointments with hundreds fewer GPs