FIVE MILLION patients are being denied a GP appointment every month, analysis ... trends now
Five million people a month are unable to book a GP appointment when they want one with the number doubling in a year, a damning study suggests.
Millions more are left waiting over a month to be seen, potentially forcing them to overcrowded A&Es or leaving them at risk of serious diseases being diagnosed too late.
The situation has got drastically worse, with the number unable to see a GP rocketing from 2.7million in October 2021 to 5.2million this October, according to analysis of NHS figures by the Labour Party.
Around one in seven patients (15.4 per cent) did not get a consultation the last time they tried to book one, according to the 2022 GP Patient Survey
The most common reasons patients were unable to secure a GP appointment were because practices were not allowing them to book too far in advance or there were no appointments available when they wanted them.
Ministers have now ordered the NHS to publish league tables showing the number of appointments and long waits at individual surgeries in a bid to improve performance and eradicate variations in standards.
Separate figures from the NHS reveal that there are 4,600 fewer GPs today than in 2013.
Last year, then-Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted the Government is set to miss its commitment to recruit 6,000 more GPs.
NHS Digital data for England in October shows more patients were seen face-to-face since Covid first hit the UK (71.3 per cent). Officials have told doctors to see more patients in-person over concerns about missed diagnoses
The graph the GP services in England that provided the fewest in-person appointments in October (red), the fewest consultations with GPs (purple) and the fewest same-day appointments (green). The NHS noted that its data is experimental — so may be of poor quality and subject to change. And some GP services have a digital first approach
However, NHS Digital data also reveals that just 44 per cent appointments in October
