Four in ten people don’t have access to a GP, experts say NHS is ‘disintegrating’ | UK | News

Four in ten patients struggle to reach their GP by phone, via the NHS app or the GP website, new government data shows.

At the same time, figures from NHS England reveal that one in ten patients say their medical needs are not being met at GP appointments.

The study also shows that as many as 14.2 million patients, or a third, said they had waited too long for an appointment.

The figures, analysed by consultancy Broadstone, come after family doctors in England voted to strike for the first time in 60 consecutive years over their new contract.

GPs say the measure, announced last week, could last “months” and “very quickly cripple the NHS”.

Under their bill, GPs will be able to choose from a range of options, including limiting the number of patients they see daily to 25 and refusing to share patient data.

The news comes as GPs, pharmacists, dentists and optometrists have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting calling on the government to increase funding for its “entry services” to prevent the NHS from collapsing.

In an unprecedented move, major primary health care associations have united in what they described as a “golden opportunity” to stop the “disintegration of primary health care”.

They say that despite repeated promises, the amount spent on primary health care has continued to decline.

They also called on the new government to provide “sustainable funding” to improve primary care and ease pressure on the rest of the NHS.

The letter, signed by the Independent Pharmacies Association, the NHS Confederation’s Primary Care Network, the British Dental Association and the Association of Optometrists, requested a meeting with Mr Streeting to discuss their proposals for a new “community health service”.

The group blames “failed funding systems” for the fact that “health outcomes have suffered at the hands of recent administrations”, highlighting problems getting GP appointments and patients arriving in emergency departments with urgent dental and eye problems.

Eddie Crouch, President of the British Dental Association, said: “Years of neglect have pushed primary care to the brink. There is now an opportunity not just to rebuild, but to reimagine services to make them fit for the 21st century. Integration and prevention are real, not just buzzwords.”

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, Chief Executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said:

“Without change, we will face further disintegration of essential primary health care services and declining health outcomes across society.”

Carolyn Ruston, policy director at the Association of Optometrists, said: “We have a real opportunity to reduce waiting times, improve access to care for patients and end avoidable sight loss due to delays in care.”

A government spokesman said it was recruiting more than 1,000 new qualified GPs.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The return of the family doctor is at the heart of the government’s plan to rebuild the health service.”

He added: “This is a first step as we begin long-term work to shift the focus of healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to repair the front door of the NHS.”