24.07.17
Over 100 million patients facing week-long GP waits by 2022
Patients will wait longer than a week to see a GP or practice nurse more than 100 million times by 2022, doctors have today warned.
Figures released by the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) have shown that if current trends of increasing demand and tightened purse strings continues, the number of patients waiting a week or more to see a GP will rise by more than 20 million over the next five years.
This will take the figure from 80 million in 2016-17 up to 102 million by 2021-22. It follows NHS England figures earlier in the month showing that only 57.7% of patients felt they didn’t normally wait too long to see a GP.
The RCGP also discovered that in 21 CCG areas serving around 5.6 million people, patients wait at least a week for an appointment with their doctor or practice nurse more than a quarter of the time.
Some of the areas where patients faced this wait the most often include Corby (36%), Fareham and Gosport (34%), Swindon (31%) and central London (31%).
And given that workloads in general practice have risen by 16% over the last seven years, the RCGP warned that this situation is close to becoming a case of “national concern” if action is not taken to crack down on waiting times.
“Our patients should be able to see a GP when they need to, so we’re highly concerned that patients are finding it so difficult to make an appointment, and that in so many cases they have had to wait more than a week to see a GP,” said Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the RCGP.
“This is a clear risk to patient safety – and if nothing is done soon, it is clear that this is set to get worse.
“If these patients can’t secure an appointment with their GP when they need one, it’s probable that they will return at some point to another area of the NHS, when their condition may have worsened, and where their care will cost the health service significantly more – something which could’ve been avoided if they’d been able their GP in the first instance.”
GPs and their teams are now making more patient consultations than ever before, argued Stokes-Lampard – and with workload continuing to escalate alongside continuing resource and workforce pressures, the worrying outcome is that doctors will be unable to see all the patients who need to be seen.
“The GP Forward View could be the lifeline general practice, and our patients, need,” she concluded. “But we need it delivered, in full, and as a matter of urgency, if it is to have a chance at protecting our profession, the wider NHS, and ensuring our patients receive the care they need and deserve.”
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