The average wait for a routine GP appointment in the UK has risen above two weeks for the first time, according to an annual survey of doctors.
The poll, for Pulse, found the average waiting time was almost 15 days. More than one in five of the 901 GPs who responded said the wait for a routine appointment exceeded three weeks, while more than one in 20 said it was more than four weeks.
In response, NHS England said the findings did not tally with official statistics.
Commenting on the findings, Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Our patients should be able to see a GP when they need to – and the fact that this is becoming increasingly difficult is frustrating for GPs and our teams, as we know it is for them.”
She continued: “People are waiting too long for routine appointments, and the concern is that non-serious conditions might deteriorate, or patients give up trying to see the GP and we miss signs of serious illness early when it could be dealt with simply and more cost effectively in primary care.”
She said promises of investment and increased staff must be delivered “urgently and in full”. In 2015 the government pledged to increase the number of GPs by 5,000 by 2020 but it has struggled to deliver. NHS Digital figures show there were 28,697 fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs practising in March, down 441 from a year previously.
The Pulse survey, published on Monday, found more than three in 10 GPs said the average waiting time was between two and three weeks, with only two in 10 saying the average was less than a week.
One GP, who recorded a four- to five-week waiting list, said: “Patient demand continues to soar with higher expectations despite dreadful government funding. MPs have a lot to answer for.”
Doctors’ leaders have long complained GPs are overworked and stressed, leading more to exit the profession or reduce their hours, which only exacerbates the problem.
The British Medical Association’s GP committee chair, Dr Richard Vautrey, said: “GPs’ number one priority is treating their patients and they work incredibly hard to do so, often outside of their contracted hours in practices that are understaffed.
“What is clear, however, is that despite the best efforts of practices, patient demand is continuing to grow and with it the rise in the number of those with increasingly complex and chronic conditions where longer and multiple appointments are necessary.”
Referencing figures for England for June alone, an NHS spokesman said: “As the latest official figures show, around half of all GP appointments are booked and taken on the same day, or within 24 hours and many patients who require non-urgent appointments do so at times to suit them or when required for routine follow-ups.”
NHS England’s own patient survey found people were finding it increasingly difficult to get a GP appointment.
