Over three million people in England had to wait more than three weeks to see their GP last month, according to shocking new figures. NHS data revealed that 30.4 million GP appointments occurred across England in April, with less than half of them (44.6 percent) taking place on the same day of booking.
A total of 3.2 million patients experienced waits exceeding three weeks from booking to appointment. This represents over one in every ten appointments (10.6 percent) in April, an increase from 9.4 percent in March and 8.8 percent in February, but still below the record high of 13.4 percent in October of the previous year.
Geographical location significantly affects waiting times. Gloucestershire had the worst waiting times, with nearly a fifth (19.6 percent) of April appointments occurring more than 21 days after booking. In Dorset, the figure was 17.8 percent, Norfolk 17.6 percent, Derby and Derbyshire 16.3 percent, and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire 16.1 percent. In stark contrast, only four percent of GP appointments in North Central London took more than three weeks to occur. Other London regions also performed better, with North East London at 4.6 percent, North West London at 5.1 percent, and both South East and South West London at six percent. Coventry and Warwickshire had a rate of 6.6 percent.
Most appointments in England (69.3 percent) happened within a week of booking, with over 13.6 million (44.6 percent) occurring on the same day.
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care at NHS England, commented on the data, expressing gratitude for the efforts of GPs and their teams in delivering millions more appointments each month compared to pre-pandemic levels. She highlighted ongoing plans to improve access further, including upgrading telephone systems in every GP practice to facilitate easier contact and encouraging patients to use the NHS app for ordering repeat prescriptions and viewing test results without needing to contact their GP directly.
Dr Doyle acknowledged the need for continued efforts to improve GP service access. She noted that the primary care access recovery plan aims to expand pharmacy services and offer patients more choices in how they access care, building on the progress made so far.
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