Half of patients see a different GP every time they visit surgery
A quarter of us can’t get through on phone One in nine can’t get an appointment at all
ALMOST half of patients are treated by a different GP every time as the role of the traditional family doctor dwindles.
Only 56 per cent always manage to see their preferred practitioner, down from 65 per cent five years ago.
Some 9 per cent never meet the same doctor, and 35 per cent are only treated by the clinician they want some of the time. The scale of the GP crisis is laid bare today in an official NHS report which reveals one in nine Britons – 11 per cent – could not get an appointment the last time they tried.
More than a quarter – 28 per cent – even struggled to get through to their surgery on the phone.
The findings, revealed in the GP Patient Survey, come despite a move by ministers in 2014 to make sure every patient had a ‘named GP’.
Evidence also shows that having one family doctor to deliver continuous care has huge benefits, particularly for older patients.
The poll, which involved detailed responses from 800,000 people across England, reveals that trust in GPs remains high, at 92 per cent. But patients are increasingly frustrated by problems getting appointments.
One in five have to wait at least a week to see their doctor – a 56 per cent relative increase on five years ago. And one in three patients said they have to wait ‘a bit too long’ or ‘far too long’ to be seen.
The issue is having a knock-on impact on emergency services, with 5 per cent of patients who cannot get an appointment going to A&E instead.
Only 3 per cent go to a pharmacist – the route encouraged by NHS officials. Worryingly, 15 per cent give up and decide to cope without medical advice.
Tim Gardner, of the Health Foundation think-tank, last night called the findings ‘concerning’.
He said: ‘Health Foundation research has found that older patients who saw the same GP more consistently experienced fewer hospital admissions for conditions that can be managed in primary care.’ Surgeries are under increasing pressure as they face an ageing population.
A recent paper published in the Lancet found the average NHS patient will visit or call their GP 11 per cent more in 2017 than they did in 2008. An audit last month revealed a quarter of appointments are avoidable. There is also a severe workforce crisis, with research suggesting two in five GPs are planning to retire or quit within the next five years.
The Government has pledged to hire 5,000 new clinicians by 2020 but numbers have dipped in recent months to the equivalent of 34,000 full-time GPs.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘Our patients should be able to see a GP when they need to, so it’s very concerning that more people are having to wait for longer to get appointments with their GP or practice nurse. ‘It is particularly worrying that some patients are deciding not to seek medical advice at all if they are not able to get an appointment initially.’
Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association GP committee, added: ‘These figures reflect the growing impact from the unsustainable pressures facing general practice.
‘It is unfair on patients across the country that their increasing needs are not being recognised by the Government which is failing to address increasing staff shortages and is providing insufficient funding, leaving too many patients waiting longer for the care they need.’ Rachel Power, of the Patients Association, called the report ‘worrying’ and called for more investment in the NHS.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth added: ‘Overworked and underfunded GPs are struggling to cope with rising needs from patients.’ But Dr Arvind Madan, director of primary care for NHS England, said: ‘Access to GPs is already expanding with 17 million people now able to get an appointment in the evening and at weekends, and everyone will be able to by March 2019.’
‘Struggling to cope’