SCANDAL OVER 15-DAY WAIT FOR GP
Doctors’ desperate plea for help to solve worst-ever patient logjam
THE average wait for a GP appointment is now longer than two weeks for the first time ever, researchers warn today. Patients wait 15 days on average to see their doctor about a nonurgent concern, with some unable to book an appointment within five weeks.
Just one in five GPs said patients were able to get an appointment less than a week after contacting their surgery, while 27 per cent said there was a wait of one to two weeks.
The majority, 31 per cent, reported an average wait of two to three weeks.
Doctors have now pleaded for help to ease the soaring patient demand.
Some 16 per cent of GPs said their average wait time was between three and
four weeks. Worryingly, six per cent said their average was longer than a month.
The figures were released by Pulse, a publication for GPs, which polled 901 UK family doctors about waiting times at their practices.
The number of full-time GPs has been falling in recent years, while demand has risen.
One GP, who recorded a four- to five-week waiting list, told Pulse: “Our list size continues to grow because there are so many housing developments.
“We are poorly remunerated for the hard work that we do. Patient demand continues to soar, with higher expectations despite dreadful government funding. MPs have a lot to answer for.”
Urgent
Another doctor said: “We currently have barely any pre-bookable appointments available due to lack of capacity.”
The data did not include appointments reserved for urgent cases.
NHS England disagreed with the research, saying almost half of people who contact their surgery get an appointment on the same day or within 24 hours – amounting to 11 million appointments.
However, Professor Helen StokesLampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said that while staff are working hard to ensure patients with urgent concerns are seen quickly, “people are waiting too long for routine appointments”. She added: “The concern is that non-serious conditions might deteriorate, or patients give up trying to see the GP and we miss signs of serious illness early when it could be dealt with simply and more cost-effectively in primary care.”
The RCGP has estimated that at least 6,000 more GPs are needed in England.
The average wait for a routine appointment has increased by two days since Pulse’s 2017 survey, rising from 12.8 to 14.8 days.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients’ Association, said difficulties in accessing primary care were “at crisis levels for some patients”.
She added: “GPs are the vital front door to the NHS for patients, so not being able to get a GP appointment often means not getting healthcare at all or, failing that, having to fall back on already stretched A&E services.”
Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP Committee, said the figures “highlight the reality of the capacity issues that many GP practices across the country are facing”. He said: “Patient
demand is continuing to grow and with it the rise in the number of those with complex conditions where longer appointments are necessary.”
An NHS spokesman said: “As the latest official figures show, around half of all GP appointments are booked and taken on the same day, or within 24 hours, and many patients who require non-urgent appointments do so at times to suit them or when required for routine follow-ups.”