Five million patients unable to get a GP appointment last month just gave up – amid fears thousands of conditions are going undiagnosed.
One in seven patients did not get an appointment when they tried to book in October, double the amount in October last year.
The most common reasons were that GP practices were not allowing patients to book ahead, and that there were not appointments available when patients could make it. A further two million patients were made to wait more than a month to see their doctor in October, the most since records began in 2017.
Another 4.3 million appointment requests had a wait of more than two weeks. Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary, said: “I’m really worried that among those millions of patients unable to get an appointment, there could be serious conditions going undiagnosed until it’s too late.”
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Getty Images)It comes after news Liverpool mum of two Verna Jackson passed away five weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Her family said diagnosis was delayed because she could not get a GP appointment for weeks.
Tory ministers admit they are likely to fail on their manifesto pledge to increase the GP workforce by 6,000 by 2025.
Since 2019 the total of fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs in England has fallen by 719. At the same time demand for GP appointments has increased 18%.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “It’s a consequence of an underfunded and understaffed service.”
