GPs predict longer waits for appointments

28 Jul 14
Patients were unable to get GP appointments within a week on nearly 42 million occasions last year, the Royal College of General Practitioners has said today. It also predicted this would increase to more than 50 million in 2015 due to a lack of investment.

By Richard Johnstone | 28 July 2014

Patients were unable to get GP appointments within a week on nearly 42 million occasions last year, the Royal College of General Practitioners has said today. It also predicted this would increase to more than 50 million in 2015 due to a lack of investment.

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According to figures published by the RCGP, there were 41.9 million occasions in 2013 when patients in England could not see a GP or nurse within a week when they contact their local practice.

The college’s research, based on figures from the GP Patient Survey, projected this will increase to 46 million this year, and 51.3 million next year.The situation is particularly bad in major urban areas, with patients in London set to be unable to see or speak to a GP or nurse on 10.4 million occasions in 2015, as well as 3.2 million in Birmingham and the Black Country, and 3.1 million in Greater Manchester.

The growing number of people unable to get appointments is the result of the proportion of NHS funding on general practice falling, RCGP honorary treasurer Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard said. Family doctors now conducti 90% of patient contacts in the NHS for just 8.5% of the budget in England, she said.

‘The fact that patients in England will be unable to see their GP when they want to on more than 50 million occasions in 2015 is a truly shocking indictment of the crisis that is enveloping general practice,’ she said.

‘No GP wants to turn away a single patient – but surgeries are being faced with no choice because they don’t have the resources to cope with the increasing number of older people who need complex care, whilst also meeting the needs of families and people of working age.

‘The profession has been brought to its knees both by a chronic slump in investment and the fact that there are now simply not enough family doctors to go around.’

She added that although some of these patients will try calling the practice another time to get an appointment, many would end up in hospital, increasing pressures on accident and emergency departments.
‘The government must urgently move to increase investment in general practice to 11% of the NHS budget by 2017 – and recruit 8,000 family doctors,’ she concluded.

Responding to the figures, a Department of Health spokesman highlighted the government was piloting expanded opening hours across the country.

‘Most patients can get appointments and we're offering 7.5 million more people email, Skype and evening and weekend slots,’ he said.

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