GP crisis? What GP crisis? More Brits think it's EASY to get a doctor's ... trends now
Almost half of patients think it's easy to see their GP, according to official figures.
By comparison, just a third find it difficult to get an appointment with their family doctor.
Survey data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) jars with an array of other reports laying bare the reality of the never-ending appointments crisis which plagues millions of Brits.
Disgruntled patients have long complained of having to visit A&E instead, heaping extra pressure on swamped casualty units.
Today's ONS report also shows that two-thirds of patients think their GP practice is 'good'.
Under a fifth think the opposite, saying they had a 'poor' experience.
The survey, carried out between January 16 and February 15, asked almost 90,000 participants about their experiences of contacting GP surgeries.
Among those people who tried to contact their GP practice in the past month for themselves or for someone else, 49.4 per cent said it was very easy or easy.
This was highest among patients in Coventry and Warwickshire (61.6 per cent), Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB (61 per cent) and NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (59.7 per cent).
For comparison, some 31.3 per cent said it was very difficult or difficult.
The proportion finding it very difficult or difficult was highest among 25 to 34-year-olds (40.2 per cent) and lowest among people aged 70 and over (20.4 per cent).
Patients in Derby and Derbyshire found it hardest to get through to their GP, with 42.4 per cent saying they found it difficult or very difficult.
Similarly high figures were seen among patients in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (41.8 per cent) and Northamptonshire (40.4 per cent).
It comes after a damning analysis yesterday revealed almost one in 20 patients are having to wait a month for an appointment.
The number of patients facing lengthy waits of a month or more has rocketed by 38 per cent in the last year – from 12.8 to 17.6million appointments.
In parts of the country such as the Vale of York, four-week waits have rocketed by 80 per cent over the same period, according to analysis of NHS data.
Patient groups said the lengthy waits are further evidence of 'GP deserts' and warned the service risks 'going the same way as NHS dentistry'.
Latest NHS statistics show there were just under 27,500 fully-qualified GPs working across England in December.
This is just under 2,000 fewer than the figure recorded in the same month in 2016.
This is despite the population growing by around 2million over the same period.
Many GPs are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or going private because of rising demand, NHS paperwork and aggressive media coverage.
This has led to an appointment crisis in general practice, with patients being forced to endure the 8am scramble. Others are forced to complete an online e-consult to reach their practice.
GPs,
