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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Patients getting sicker as they face long waits for NHS care, says top GP

A doctor examining a patient
Reducing NHS waiting times is one of the government’s five key policy pledges. Photograph: Alamy

Patients are developing cancers and enduring so much pain that they cannot climb stairs because of the 7.2 million-strong waiting list for NHS scans and treatment, Britain’s top GP has said.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the record delays for care and the uncertainty for patients about when they would finally be seen was leaving people feeling “helpless and forgotten”.

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