New data from the NHS has shown that more people are waiting a month for a GP appointment – the worst since records began in 2017.
3,881 people in Gedling borough faced a wait of 28 days or more to see a GP in October alone.
A further 9,432 people had to wait more than two weeks.
Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Gedling, Michael Payne, today blamed the continuous problems on more than a decade of Government “mismanagement.”
He said: “Patients in Gedling are finding it impossible to see a GP when they need to. Among those thousands waiting more than a month or not getting an appointment at all, there will be conditions going undiagnosed until it is too late.
“12 years of Conservative failure to train the staff our NHS needs has left it with thousands fewer GPs, and patients are paying the price. Meanwhile the Conservatives are protecting the non-dom tax status, allowing people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas. We need doctors and nurses, not non-doms.
“Labour will train a new generation of doctors and nurses, paid for by abolishing non-doms. Patients need doctors’ appointments more than the wealthiest need a tax break. Patients should be able to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose, when they need to.”
This week, the Government set out plans to overhaul NHS pension rules in an attempt to retain more senior doctors in the service.
Launching an eight-week consultation, ministers said the proposed changes would also remove barriers to retired clinicians returning to work – including new “flexibilities” to allow retired and partially retired staff to return to work or increase their working hours without having payments to their pension reduced or suspended.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the proposed changes “will help open up extra appointments so patients can see their GP and consultants more quickly”.
