Figures reveal the GPs offering best same day support
THERE are 25 GP surgeries across Surrey where a typical wait for an appointment is just one day.
Fewer than 9% of patients registered with any of these practices had to wait for more than 22 days for an appointment in February.
At Vine Medical Centre, in East Molesey, only 1.7% of patients waited more than 22 days for an appointment in February. Also, 72.5% of patients were able to get an appointment on the same day. It was a similar story at Ashley Medical Practice, where 68.8% of patients got a same day appointment.
Nationally, 67% of appointments in February were face-to-face, 44% were on the same day the booking was made and 8.8% took place over 21 days after booking. The average wait time was two to seven days.
The percentage of face-to-face appointments at the 15 best GP surgeries for appointment availability ranged from 97.9% at the Holly Tree Surgery, in Farnham, to 31.6% at the Park Road Group Practice, in Camberley.
Nationally, the majority of appointments across England (69.8%) took place within a week of being booked. More than 13.2 million of them (43.5%) took place on the same day.
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services at NHS England, said: “The NHS is meeting its tar- gets, with hardworking GPs and their teams making tremendous progress across the country.
“But we know there is more to do – that’s why the NHS is implementing the major plan we announced last year to improve access to GP services, which includes upgrading telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact their surgery, and we’ve boosted the workforce with an additional 36,000 staff joining GP teams since 2019, all helping to deliver even more appointments.” Primary Care Minister Andrea Leadsom MP, said: “We are determined to make our healthcare system faster, simpler and fairer for all patients, and this data shows that through the incredible work of GPs and their teams, we are now delivering significantly more appointments per working day compared to the same time last year.
The NHS is meeting its targets, with hard-working GPs and their teams making tremendous progress... Dr Amanda Doyle
“We are committed to ensuring that everyone who needs an appointment is able to get one, and our primary care recovery plan demonstrates how we will deliver for all patients who use our fantastic NHS.
“Our goals are clear, and we have already delivered on a number of pledges – including exceeding our target of 50 million additional general practice appointments per year, several months ahead of schedule.”