NHS Confederation responds to Liberal Democrat Party data on four-week waits to see a GP
Responding the data published by the Liberal Democrat Party on the number of people waiting 4 weeks for a GP appointment, Ruth Rankine director of primary care at the NHS Confederation said:
"Primary care is the front door of the NHS and plays a critical role in delivering care to local communities, particularly those patients with complex care needs. But as these findings show, it is under enormous pressure.
"The latest statistics show general practice is working harder than ever, despite their low funding settlement. In addition, 51 per cent of appointments took place on the same or next day as booking in July.
"We welcomed the government’s decision to invest more in the GP workforce through Primary Care Networks for the remainder of the year, which our members in primary care hope to see extended.
"We also welcome the government’s ambition to increase the proportion of NHS funding that goes to primary care, which our members have long called for. As the Darzi independent investigation published just this week has identified, previous governments have struggled to make this a reality and so we look forward to working with government on identifying measures that would drive this change and deliver on one of their three ‘big shifts’ planned for NHS reform, of moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service.
"Ahead of winter, the government must address the estimated gap between what the NHS is committed to do this year and what funding services have to deliver it. A failure to do this will lead to a crisis and make it more difficult for people to be seen in primary care."
