14% who try to make a GP appointment in Bristol and South Glos don’t get one, whilst over 15,000 locals were forced to wait over a month, it can be revealed.
New figures from NHS England show that a shocking 14% of people in both areas could not get an appointment to see or speak to a GP or nurse the last time they tried. In June alone, 15,701 residents had to wait a whole month to see the doctor in the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire region.
When the Conservatives first entered government, they scrapped the guarantee of a GP appointment within 48 hours. Now the Government has admitted it is failing to meet its manifesto pledge to recruit more GPs.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “It’s a real struggle for some people to see their GP, and people are spending hours on the phone, and then being told nothing is available for weeks. When I was an MP in the last Labour government, I was proud that we guaranteed a GP appointment within 48 hours. Our NHS is Britain’s greatest asset but the Conservatives are running it into the ground”.