Long waits for GP visits in Leicestershire highlighted by new figures
One in every nine GP appointments in Leicestershire and Rutland last month took place more than three weeks after booking. A total of 611,982 appointments took place at GP practices across the two counties in March.
Almost 73,000 of those, however, had been booked more than three weeks earlier. That works out as 11.9 per cent of all appointments - an increase from 11.2 per cent in February. And Leicestershire and Rutland is well above the average, with the average for England being 9.4 per cent.
It is three times higher than the best-performing areas, where the figures are as low as 3.6 per cent.
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The majority of patients who saw their GP in the area covered by the NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board in March did so within a week of making the appointment.
Some 66.8 per cent of appointments took place within seven days of booking. That includes 41.5 per cent of appointments which took place on the same day.
The map below shows how Leicestershire and Rutland compare to the national average:
Patients at Alpine House Surgery in Loughborough were the most likely to have to wait over three weeks in Leicestershire. Some 38.5 per cent of appointments at the practice in March took place more than three weeks after booking.
De Montfort Surgery in Leicester was next with a ratio of 32.2 per cent of appointments taking place after three weeks, followed by Hugglescote Surgery (30.0 per cent), and Castle Donington Surgery (28.5 per cent).
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care, NHS England said: “Thanks to GPs and their hardworking teams, millions more appointments are being delivered every month compared to before the pandemic with plans in place to improve access even further.
“Every GP practice is upgrading their telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact their surgery, while patients can use the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions and view their test results without needing to contact their family doctor.
“We know there is more to do to make it easier for patients to access GP services, which is why, building on the successes so far of the primary care access recovery plan we will continue to modernise general practice, expand pharmacy services, and offer patients more choice in how they access care.”