Council notes new research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows GP waits over two and four weeks will hit a record high in 2025.
Since 2020, there has been a 50% rise in patients waiting over 14 days – from 19.7 to 43 million appointments – and a 67% increase in those waiting over 28 days – from 5.8 to 12.9 million.
In 2025, almost one in five people waited over two weeks, and one in 20 over four.
Council believes years of Conservative neglect broke our NHS and now Labour are failing to grasp this national crisis spiralling out of control. General Practice is on the brink, with two GP surgeries closing every week, leaving family doctors responsible for hundreds more patients and forcing people to travel further and further to get help.
Nearly three-quarters of GPs now say patient safety is compromised by their workload, according to the Royal College of GPs.
Council further notes the Liberal Democrat policy position calling for an emergency package to ensure every patient can be seen within 7 days, or 24 hours if urgent. This would be achieved through a strategic fund to reopen surgeries, and a recruitment and retention drive to secure 8,000 more GPs. The Liberal Democrats would also introduce a 24/7 GP booking system to end the ‘8am scramble’, with 111 call handlers trained to become GP receptionists, and dedicated local initiatives to end ‘GP deserts’.
Council resolves to:
- Formally endorse the principal that residents in [AREA NAME] should not have to wait more that 7 days for a GP appointment, and be able to see a GP in 24 hours in cases of an emergency.
- Write to the Secretary of State for Health to convey the Council’s position on this matter
- Refer this issue to Scrutiny and [AREA NAME] Health and Wellbeing Board requesting that a report is provided to all councillors about GP wait times in [AREA NAME].
- Develop a questionnaire to distribute to all GPs in [AREA NAME] to give Council their insight into the pressures GP surgeries and patients are under with historically high waiting times and demands on service.