A record number of GP appointments will have four-week waits this year, new data shows.
There were 10.3 million waits of four weeks or more for a GP appointment in the seven months to July, analysis of NHS data by the Liberal Democrats has found.
That is 1.7 million higher than the same period last year, when 8.6 million appointments had four-week waits.
If this year’s number continues in the same vein, as is expected, it will beat last year’s record of 17.6 million four-week waits.
In some areas, NHS data shows almost one in 10 GP appointments have seen four-week or more waits so far this year.
Gloucestershire has the highest proportion of four-week waits in the country, with 10.1% of GP appointments in that category.
Derby, Derbyshire and Glossop, Dorset, and Chorley and South Ribble come next, with all having 9% or more of patients waiting longer than four weeks for a GP appointment.
That is nearly double the national average of 5%.
The Lib Dems are demanding the government increase funding for the NHS, including GP services, when the chancellor announces her autumn budget on 30 October.
But Sir Keir Starmer earlier this week said the NHS would not get any more funding without reforming as he laid out a 10-year plan to fix the health service.
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Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told Sky News the NHS cannot “withstand that approach”.
“It needs the investment up front as well as reform,” he said.
He said the Conservatives “reneged” on reforming social care and said “Labour doesn’t seem to be grasping” it.
The Lib Dems want to give everyone the legal right to a GP appointment within a week, or 24 hours if in urgent need.
An extra 8,000 GPs would be needed to do that.
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Lord Winston discusses how he thinks the government could fund the NHS
Sir Ed said: “Everyone should be able to see a doctor when they need one, but the Conservative Party broke the NHS so badly that millions of people are waiting weeks for an appointment.
“That’s why Liberal Democrats are campaigning for everyone to have the right to see a GP within seven days, or 24 hours if it’s urgent, and we are urging the government to boost GP numbers to make it happen.
“Fixing the GP crisis is critical to saving our NHS. If people can get seen quicker, fewer will end up in hospital in the first place. That’s better for them, better for the NHS and better for taxpayers.”
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Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper is expected to discuss the NHS in her keynote speech to the party’s conference on Monday.
She will say: “You don’t have freedom if you’re on a waiting list so long that your world shrinks and you’re stuck hobbling at home between a couple of rooms.
“Decent health and care services are the bedrock of a liberal society.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The NHS is broken. These findings show how much general practice has been neglected. This government will fix this by shifting the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community.
“We have committed to hiring an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS by the end of this year. In addition, we have provided a further £311m towards GP contract funding in 24/25 – an uplift of 7.4%. We will also ensure that GPs have the resources they need to offer patients the highest quality care.”
