SUNDAY MIRROR CAMPAIGN: END »»

Average wait for appointment is now 15 days Shortfall of medics set to hit 7,000 by 2024 Eight per cent rise in number of patients per doc Conditions so bad GPs better off working abroad

THE Sunday Mirror today launches a campaign to end the crisis in doctors’ surgeries fighting for survival, seriously wounded by savage Tory cuts.

The Government which has brutally attacked them over the years stands idly by as their life blood – the vital supply of exhausted GPs we all need – drains away.

Appointment waiting times have hit a record high as more and more GPs quit, broken by heavy workloads. We want to save our surgeries by:

the number of trainee GPs by at least 5,000 a year to replace the 1,600 already axed by the Tories – and to cover a looming shortfall of 7,000 in the next four years.

nearly 30 million extra appointments to shrink growing surgery waiting times for everyone which can be as long as

– especially for patients suffering serious conditions, and

the flood of experienced GPs who are leaving the NHS in droves by improving working conditions wrecked by Tory cuts.

PRESSURE

An annual survey of 901 GPs across the UK has revealed the average waiting time for routine appointments is now almost 15 DAYS – the first time it has gone over a fortnight – with some patients waiting months for treatment.

That’s caused by a combination of a booming population and far fewer doctors left to cope with it, with GPs blasting the pressure they are under as “ridiculous”.

Experts believe the 1,600 lost through Tory cuts will balloon to a very concerning 7,000 by 2024.

As overwhelmed doctors quit surgeries, more and more patients are coming through the door.

The average number seen by each GP rose from 2,000 to 2,160 between 2015 and 2018, an increase of eight per cent over three years.

GPs like Dr Bob Gill, who runs a surgery in Bexley, South East London, know only too well how the Government’s attempt to treat the NHS like a private company is forcing up patient waiting times.

He co-owned his practice with a German-trained doctor for 10 years – but he quit two years ago.

“The ridiculous pressures we are working under were too much and he moved back to his old country,” said Dr Gill. “Now he has half the workload he had here for the same amount of pay.” Dr Gill now looks after the 5,000 patients which he shared with his German