A million f lock to A&E because they can’t see their GP
Figures prove lack of appointments driving crisis
NEARLY a million patients are heading to A& E every year because they cannot get an appointment with their GP, figures reveal.
Data from the Government’s own survey provide fresh evidence that Britain’s casualty ward crisis has been driven by the struggle to access a family doctor.
David Cameron yesterday said the pressures would be eased by giving the over-65s better access to GPs and more care at home – but conceded it would ‘take time’.
Labour tried to blame the Tories for a lack of appointments, but failed to admit that its botched GP contract in 2004 had awarded doctors huge pay rises but allowed them to stop out-of-hours and weekend working.
The political row over access to GPs broke out over a Government survey of 880,000 patients.
It revealed that about one in ten were unable to get an appointment with a doctor or practice nurse when they last tried – a figure of 5.8 million patients if extended across England.
A further 7 per cent were offered appointments up to three weeks ahead – and said they gave up trying.
Of these two groups of patients, one in ten said they went to an A&E or walk-in centre in the hope of seeing a doctor sooner. Across England, this is equivalent to about 940,000 patients – and a rise of almost 80,000 compared with calculations for last year.
The Prime Minister told a meeting of business leaders in Manchester that the problem was caused by a rising ageing population finding it ever harder to see a family doctor.
He said: ‘One blinding statistic is that there are a million more over-65s going to A&E this year than there were four years ago. So we have an ageing population, greater numbers of frail elderly.
Labour, which analysed the survey figures, blamed the Government for under-investment in services to meet the needs of an ageing population.
It said surgeries were too cash- strapped to open at evenings or weekends, employ extra doctors and nurses or open bigger premises.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham repeated his claim that the NHS in its present form will not ‘survive another five years’ of Tory management.
He added: ‘ David Cameron talks about the increase in A&E attendances as if it’s nothing to do with him, but these figures show he should take responsibility for driving people to A&E.
‘He’s made it harder to get a GP appointment and it’s getting even worse, contributing to the current crisis in A&E.
‘It is yet more proof that the
‘A real source of pressure’
NHS as we know it won’t survive another five years of David Cameron.’
He claimed a Labour government would guarantee a GP appointment within 48 hours – or on the same day if it is urgent – and allow patients to book further ahead with a GP of their choice.
But the Tories pointed the finger at the 2004 GP contract – negotiated under Labour – which enabled doctors to opt out of evening and weekend care. Patients now have to navigate a confusing system of out-of-hours firms and walk-in centres – and many just go to A&E instead.
A Government spokesman said: ‘Labour are making yet another wilful attempt to distract from the fact that their botched 2004 GP contract destroyed the doctor-patient relationship and made it much harder to access care out of hours.
‘That’s a real source of pressure on A&E, and one we’re sorting out by introducing evening and weekend GP access for ten million people.’
Figures from the survey also show a steady fall in patient satisfaction. A fifth say they are not happy with GP opening hours and the same proportion said they would not recommend their surgery to a friend. One in ten said receptionists were unhelpful and a quarter said it was difficult getting through on the phone.
Many of the patients who couldn’t get an appointment were unable to book ahead at their surgery, couldn’t see their usual GP or were told they would have to wait several weeks.
Meanwhile separate figures show ambulance response times are at their worst since records began in 2010.
Just 71.8 per cent of the most serious ‘Red 1’ calls – cardiac arrests and road accidents – were reached in eight minutes. The target is 75 per cent.
Britain is seeing an unprecedented demand on A&Es.
Thirteen hospitals declared major incidents because they were unable to cope and cancelled non-urgent operations and drafted-in extra staff – measures usually reserved for a rail crash or terrorist bomb.