NHS Confederation responds to the latest statistics on GP appointments

Responding to the latest statistics on GP appointments, Ruth Rankine, director of primary care at the NHS Confederation, said:

“These figures show once again the hard work GPs and their staff continue to put in for their patients. Over 28 million appointments were delivered in May, over 6% higher per day than this time last year, nearly 70% of which were face to face which is an incredible achievement and with the majority on the same day.

“However, while general practice perseveres, the GP workforce continues to grapple with vacancy gaps, high demand, increasing workload and the financial fall-out of unfunded pay awards and increased infrastructure costs. We are seeing the number of practices reduce month on month as a result. To ensure that we continue to truly meet demand for services, we need to retain as many people as possible at the same time as building a clear plan for how we will recruit and train more staff. It is therefore vital that the government addresses this in their long-awaited workforce plan with the necessary funding, so staff can continue to deliver top quality care for all their patients."