Patients at risk as millions have to wait a week to see GP

THE NUMBER of times patients are being forced to wait more than a week to see their family doctor has doubled in four years, figures from the Royal College of GPS (RCGP) show.

Patients had to wait seven days or more to see their GP on 80million occasions in 2016-17, up from 69million the year before. In 2012, the figure was 40million. If the trend continues, the number of patients unable to get an appointment in a week will reach 102million by 2021-22, RCGP data suggest.

In some parts of the country, more than a third of patients suffer a delay of over a week. The RCGP warned delays could present a “genuine risk” to patients if the situation does not improve.

Even in the areas with best access there are around one in 10 patients still unable to get an appointment within a week. Professor Helen Stokes-lampard, the RCGP chairman, said she was “highly concerned” about the “clear risk to patient safety” which appeared to be getting worse.

“If these patients can’t secure an appointment with their GP when they need one, it’s probable that they will return at some point to another area of the NHS, when their condition may have worsened, and where their care will cost the health service significantly more – something which could have been avoided if they’d been able to see their GP in the first instance.”

Currently in 21 Clinical Commissioning Group areas, covering 5.6million patients, more than a quarter of the time the wait is at least a week for a GP or practice nurse appointment.

The RCGP called on the Government to ensure that more than 100 pledges made in NHS England’s GP Forward View, launched last year, are delivered more rapidly.