Patients are abandoning contacting their GP

One in five (19%) people decide not to contact their GP surgery even when they need to, with major reasons being worries over getting an appointment and long waits, according to official data.

An Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey on the impact of winter pressures, carried out last month, shows that people who feel depressed, who live in the most deprived areas of England, and women are significantly more likely to say they abandoned plans to contact their GP.

The representative poll of 4,494 people across Great Britain found that, of those who decided not to contact their GP practice when needed in the past month, the most common reasons given were thinking the wait for an appointment would be too long (56%), being unable to contact their GP practice at the times required (26%) and being worried about the burden on the NHS (24%).

After deciding not to contact their GP, people turned to managing the condition themselves (57%), seeking advice on the internet (22%) and seeing a pharmacist (14%).

Overall, around a third (35%) of people reported needing to make an appointment at a GP practice in the past month.

Of these, 37% said it was easy or very easy to make an appointmentand 43% reported it was difficult or very difficult.

The data has been highlighted by the Liberal Democrats, with its health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper, calling on the Government to recruit more GPs and give patients a legal right to see a GP within a week, or 24 hours if it is urgent.

She said :‘ It is deeply worrying that millions of people are trying and failing to see their GP because it's just so difficult to get an appointment.’