Record 10 million four-week waits for GPs this year as Lib Dems demand NHS funding boost at the Budget

EMBARGO: 22.30 Sunday 15th September

• Data reveals this year is on course for a new record number of four-week waits for a GP appointment

• There were 71 million waits of four weeks or longer for a GP appointment over the course of the last Parliament

• The Liberal Democrats will demand extra funding for the NHS including GP services at the Budget 

The number of four-week waits for a GP appointment is on course to be reach a new record high year, data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said the figures revealed “just how badly the Conservative Party broke our NHS” and said that the new government’s first Budget should have the NHS as its “top priority.” The party is calling for emergency funding for the NHS at the Budget including for GP services so people can get an appointment when they need one.

NHS data shows that in the seven months to July of this year there have already been 10.3 million waits of four weeks or more for a GP appointment. That is significantly higher than the equivalent period last year when there were 8.6 million four-week waits. It means this year is on track to beat last year’s record of 17.6 million four-week waits for a GP appointment. Over the course of the entire last Parliament a staggering 71 million GP appointments had waits of four weeks or longer.

The analysis also shows in some areas almost one in ten appointments have seen waits for a GP appointment of four weeks or more so far this year. In Gloucestershire 10.1% of appointments have seen a wait of four weeks or more so far this year, the highest proportion in the country. This was followed by Derby, Derbyshire and Glossop, Dorset, and Chorley and South Ribble, which all had 9% or more of patients waiting longer than four weeks for a GP appointment, nearly double the national average of 5%.

It comes after last week’s report by Lord Darzi found the UK has almost 16 per cent fewer fully qualified GPs than other high income countries relative to our population.

The Liberal Democrats want to give everyone the legal right to a GP appointment within a week or 24 hours if in urgent need, which would be delivered by increasing the number of GPs by 8,000.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“Everyone should be able to see a doctor when they need one, but the Conservative Party broke the NHS so badly that millions of people are waiting weeks for an appointment.

“That’s why Liberal Democrats are campaigning for everyone to have the right to see a GP within seven days, or 24 hours if it’s urgent, and we are urging the Government to boost GP numbers to make it happen.

“Fixing the GP crisis is critical to saving our NHS. If people can get seen quicker, fewer will end up in hospital in the first place. That’s better for them, better for the NHS and better for taxpayers.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Data on the number of appointments with waits of four-weeks or longer through to July of 2024 and July of 2023 can be found here.

Research on the number of GP appointments which saw waits of longer than four-weeks can be found here. 

Notes: Because NHS areas differ in size, comparisons of areas should only be made using the percentage of appointments and not the total number of appointments.

Statistics concerning the number of appointments with waits of over 2 or 4 weeks are not a direct indicator of waiting times for GP appointments. It measures the time between when the appointment was booked and when it took place. This might partly reflect patient preference as well as enforced waits. It also only measures appointments that were booked, so if an appointment was refused for being too far in the future, that wouldn’t be recorded here.

The attached spreadsheet contains the following tabs:

• Wait times total – the total number of appointments with waiting times over 2 and 4 weeks.

• Wait times proportional – the percentage of appointments with waiting times over 2 and 4 weeks

Each of these spreadsheets are broken down by integrated care board (ICB). General practice appointments and funding are linked to ICBs rather than NHS trusts (which cover hospitals and ambulances).

The data is sourced from NHS Digital’s Appointments in General Practice publication.