4,124 Patients Waiting a MONTH for a GP Appointment in Crawley

Data from the NHS has shown that more people are waiting a month for a GP appointment than at any time since when records began in 2017. 4,124 people in Crawley faced a wait of 28 days or more to see a GP in October alone. A further 9,914 people had to wait more than two weeks.

At the same time as millions of patients in England are being left waiting in excess of 28 days, the number of GPs has fallen to a record low, leaving patients in a desperate scramble to be seen. Since 2013, 4,600 GPs have been cut.

The Labour Party has committed to abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows some wealthy people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas, to pay for training a new generation of NHS staff. Labour’s plan would:

• Double the number of medical school places, training 15,000 new doctors a year
• Train 10,000 additional nurses and midwives every year
• Double the number of district nurses qualifying each year
• Train 5,000 new health visitors

Labour’s plan will see patients guaranteed a face-to-face appointment with a GP if they want one. While some patients prefer to hold appointments over the phone, many are frustrated at not being able to see their doctor in person, and just 22% of patients are given a choice in the type of appointment they have. One in seven people who try to speak to a nurse or GP were unable to get an appointment at all last year.

Labour is also pledging to bring back the family doctor, so patients can see the same GP each appointment if they choose to. Patients are increasingly unable to see the doctor of their choice, with two in every three patients rarely or never speaking to their preferred doctor, up from just half in 2018. Under Labour’s plans, GP practices will be provided with incentives to offer patients continuity of care, so doctors must take into account patients’ preferences