Sufferers ready as much as a month for a GP appointment

Some sufferers are ready for as much as a month earlier than seeing
their GP, figures present.

The analysis, revealed by the Sunday Mirror, reveals 15
million appointments have been delayed by greater than 28 days within the 12 months to
August.

The same quantity have been stored ready between 22 and 28 days
and extra have been solely seen between 15 and 21 days.

This implies a complete of 55 million GP visits took longer
than a fortnight.

It comes after a report warned Britain is heading in the direction of
a 7,000 GP scarcity inside 5 years due to issues with coaching and
retention.

Liberal Democrat well being spokesman Norman Lamb mentioned the
scarcity of GPs is leaving sufferers stranded after they may have severe
well being points.

“Our GP service is at breaking level as a result of lack of
funding and the failure by authorities to resolve the issues with recruitment
and retention,” he added.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal
Faculty of GPs, mentioned GPs and their groups will see nicely over 1,000,000 sufferers
day by day. “However while we're working ever tougher to ship care to sufferers,
the variety of GPs is falling,” she acknowledged.