Fed-up patients flood A&E after struggling to see family doctor

A quarter of those seeking GP appointment face week’s wait as NHS reaches permanent ‘boiling point’

ONE-IN-FOUR patients is waiting at least a week to see their GP, forcing more people to turn to Accident and Emergency departments, new figures show.

The survey of 760,000 patients also reveals rising numbers of patients struggling to get through to their family doctor.

The figures show 27.9 per cent of those polled found it difficult to contact their GP surgery – a rise from 18.6 per cent in 2012. It comes as new data reveals record pressures on A&E.

The total number of attendances in July reached a record 2.17 million – a five per cent rise in a month. Performance against targets to treat patients within four hours fell to 89.3 per cent, against a target of 95 per cent. NHS chiefs said the health service was now “at boiling point” all year round.

Experts said problems accessing GPS were fuelling pressures on A&E. More than one fifth of patients polled said they had contacted NHS services when they wanted to see a GP in the past year, only to find their practice closed. Of those, more than one third ended up turning to casualty departments.

Overall, 23.8 per cent of patients waited at least a week to see a GP, according to the polling, which took place between January and March this year. Six years before, 12.8 per cent of patients said that they had to wait over a week after trying to book.

The latest figures include patients who wanted to wait for their appointment. In total, 12 per cent of patients who waited at least a week had wanted to do so, while 22 per cent had said they did not have a specific day in mind.

This year, for the first time, those aged 16 and 17 were included in the polling.

Beccy Baird, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, said: “This year’s GP survey figures reflect the real challenges facing general practice. Just 62 per cent said that they could see or speak to someone at a time that suited them.”

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “The summer has provided no respite for NHS staff. The pressures are felt across hospital, community, mental health and ambulance services, not just A&E. All of this is a symptom of an NHS running at boiling point all year round.”

Charities warned that waiting times for cancer treatment are now the worst since data was first collected in 2009, with more than one in five patients waiting more than two months.

The GP survey found 83.8 per cent of patients described their overall experience of their local practice as very or fairly good, while 6.1 per cent rated their surgery as either fairly or very poor.

Dr Nikita Kanani, acting director of primary care for NHS England, said: “This survey shows patients appreciate the fantastic job GPS and the wider primary care work force are doing in times of real pressure.”