NHS top doctor warns ‘quad-demic’ infections are still rising as Office for National Statistics data shows more than 1 million patients were completely unable to access their GP last month
A million people who tried to contact their GP last month could not get through and gave up, new figures show.
Analysis of the latest Office for National Statistics survey on health care found 4.8 million people who tried to reach their GP – or 23% – could not make contact on the same day. Of these 2.2 million patients had to wait several days to make contact while over 1.1 million were completely unable to access their NHS GP in the month.
It comes a day after the Mirror reported a surge in people turning up in A&E with minor ailments such as coughs, headache, hiccups, insomnia, backache, feeling sick and a blocked nose.
Jess Brown-Fuller MP, health spokesperson for the Lib Dems, which did the analysis, said: “The crisis in NHS primary care cannot be allowed to continue. Millions of people are being forced to wait in pain for weeks just to get a GP appointment. The government must act urgently to ensure patients can see their GP when they need to. The mistakes of the previous Conservative government, which ran our health service into the ground, must not be repeated.”
NHS leaders have warned that hospitals are bracing for a so-called “quad-demic” of disease over the winter months, with an increase in cases of flu, norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and expected increases in Covid-19.
Speaking on New Year’s Eve, NHS England medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The winter flu season has not only hit the NHS early this year, but it is potentially on track to be one of the worst we have ever seen, as the ‘quad-demic’ continues to increase pressure across services. Frontline NHS staff are currently under significant pressure – and as families and friends have gathered over the festive period and to celebrate the new year, we expect the peak of seasonal viruses is yet to come.
“I would like to remind the public that community services like GPs and pharmacies are open as usual for help and advice today and on Thursday and Friday. Anyone who needs medical support should continue to use services as normal – 999 and A&E only in an emergency, and for other urgent health needs, use NHS 111 or 111 online.”
One in 10 people told the ONS they found it difficult to contact their GP in the last month. When people did successfully secure an appointment less than half received a face to face consultation, with others having them conducted over the phone or by video call.
It comes after the number of family doctors has fallen over the last decade despite repeated Tory promises to increase full-time-equivalent GPs to keep pace with population demand. In 2015 and 2019 the government promised 5,000 more GPs by 2020 and in 2019 Boris Johnson promised an additional 6,000 GPs by 2024 which didn’t materialise.
Jess Brown-Fuller added: “The lack of GP appointments is leading to unnecessary hospital admissions, putting more strain on A&E and costing the NHS even more money. Patients have been suffering through a health service crisis for far too long. That is why the Liberal Democrats would boost GP numbers to give all patients the legal right to see their GP within a week or 24-hours if in urgent need.”
Labour promised 1,000 extra GPs in England by the end of 2024 but it is so far unclear how close it got to hitting this target.
The Government changed the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) as it inherited a system where practices were only permitted to hire non-medical support staff via the ARRS through primary care networks. Last summer ministers removed the “red tape” restricting it being used to hire doctors and expanded the scheme by adding £82million in extra funding.
The Government said newly qualified GPs who could otherwise have been without a job are being recruited into the NHS.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Health and Social Care said: “GP services are buckling after years of neglect but through our Plan for Change we will fix the NHS’s front door and shift the focus of healthcare from hospital to community. We are hiring an extra 1,000 GPs, and have proposed the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889 million – and bringing back the family doctor so patients most in need see the same doctor at every appointment.”
