Almost one in 20 GP appointments is a four-week wait

The number of patients in England who waited more than four weeks for a GP appointment in May rose by 42%, new figures show.

Data from the Liberal Democrats shows that 1.3 million appointments were booked more than four weeks in advance in May 2023, up from 912,000 in May 2022.

This means that 4.8% of all GP appointments in May were booked more than four weeks in advance.

In some areas, one in 10 GP appointments had a four-week wait

WHile the average percentage of appointments booked more than four weeks earlier was 4.8% in Gloucestershire this rose to 9.7%, in Sheffield it was 9.5%, and in Derby and Derbyshire it was 8.6%.

In Dorset it was 8.3% and in the East Riding of Yorkshire it was 8.2%.

Liverpool and North Central London both had the fewest four-week waits, with 1.8% of GP appointments in May booked more than four weeks earlier, according to House of Commons Library research.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Far too many people are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one, leaving them worried or waiting in pain for the treatment they need.

GPs 'cannot work any harder'

Commenting on the figures, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “No patient should ever have to wait this amount of time for an appointment, regardless of where they live, and we share our patients’ frustration and distress when they struggle to access our care.

“But the truth is that GPs and our teams cannot work any harder – we are delivering more appointments overall compared to before the pandemic.

“Around 85% of appointments in general practice are already happening within two weeks of being booked, and almost half are delivered on the day they are booked – yet we have nearly 900 fewer full-time fully qualified GPs compared to 2019."

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