More than 10 million people have to wait at least a month to see their GP, damning figures reveal

A record number of patients are having to wait four weeks to see their GP. More than 10 million people have had to wait that long this year, according to devastating figures.

Campaigners warn that the delays are leading to people being rushed to overcrowded emergency departments or not seeking medical help, leaving many feeling depressed at home.

According to an analysis of NHS data by the Liberal Democrats, there were 10.3 million waiting times of four weeks or longer for a GP appointment in England in the first seven months of this year.

This is much higher than the same period in 2023, when the figure stood at 8.6 million – suggesting that 2024 is on course to break last year’s record of 17.6 million four-week waiting times for a GP appointment. The figures show that 71 million GP appointments had a waiting time of four weeks or more over the course of the previous parliament.

The Lib Dems used their annual conference in Brighton this weekend to call for an extra £9.4bn in funding for the NHS at next month’s Budget and for patients to have the legal right to see a GP within a week – or within 24 hours if it’s urgent.

In the first seven months of this year, there were 10.3 million waiting times of four weeks or more for a GP appointment in England. (Stock photo)

The government has promised to tackle the ‘8-hour rush’ for an appointment. (Stock photo)

The figures show that in the last parliamentary period there were 71 million GP appointments with a waiting time of four weeks or longer. (Stock photo)

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey (pictured) said the NHS should be the ‘top priority’ in the Budget

Their analysis shows that in some parts of the country, almost one in 10 appointments so far this year have taken place after a wait of four weeks or more. The highest rate of 10.1 per cent is in Gloucestershire – double the national average of 5 per cent. It comes after Lord Ara Darzi’s NHS research last week found that the UK has 16 per cent fewer fully qualified GPs than other high-income countries relative to our population.

The government has promised to tackle the ‘crowd’ for appointments at 8am. According to the NHS GP Patient Survey, only 49.7 per cent now find it ‘easy’ to contact their practice by phone, up from 80.8 per cent in 2012, according to research from the NHS GP Patient Survey.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the NHS should be the “top priority” in the Budget, with an “emergency” injection of money to allow patients to see a GP when they need one. His party said the number of GPs would increase by 8,000.

Mr Davey said: ‘Solving the GP crisis is crucial to saving our NHS. If people can get help more quickly, fewer will end up in hospital. That’s better for them, for the NHS and for taxpayers.’

Dennis Reed, of the over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, said: ‘We are not convinced that the plans announced by the new government so far are sufficient to solve the crisis in the NHS.’

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said they shared patients’ frustrations but there were too few doctors to meet demand.

She added: ‘We want to see funding for GP practices in the Budget. But introducing arbitrary targets would make the situation worse. They would put early access before continuity of care, which we know has benefits for patients and the health service.’

The numbers don’t make it clear whether patients wanted to make an appointment four weeks in advance or whether they had to wait that long. They only measure appointments that have been booked, so if one was refused because it was too far in the future, that wouldn’t be clear.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said last night: ‘These findings show how much general practice has been neglected. This Government will fix this by shifting the focus of health care from the hospital to the community.’