A North East MP has attacked the Government's funding of NHS GPs in response to recent figures showing that an astonishing 15% of those trying to book an appointment with their doctor in our region were unable to.
Sharon Hodgson, the Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, has hit out at figures from this year's GP Patient Survey showing how those living in the North East and North Cumbria are struggling to get a slot with their doctor.
NHS England data from June also shows that in June alone, almost 60,000 appointments across the same region were held more than 28 days after booking. Across the wider North East and Yorkshire region, the figure was close to 200,000 - with more than 2m appointments being "over a month late" over the past year.
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The Labour Party has criticised the Conservative government's failure to live up to promises to recruit more GPs. Previously, doctors have told ChronicleLive how they are "burnt out", while some practices in areas like South Tyneside are seeing more than 2,000 patients for each GP.
The latest NHS workforce data shows that there were 27,558 fully qualified GPs working in June - that's down 2.2% on 2021. But when including GPs in training, the figure is 35,499 - that's 0.1% down on 2021.
Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, said: "More and more constituents are getting in touch with me frustrated and anxious because they are struggling to see a GP. We need more GPs but the Conservatives have once again over-promised and under-delivered.
"People in the North East deserve a Labour government that will give the NHS what it needs to see people on time, not more of the same from the Conservatives."
Wes Streeting, shadow Health and Social Care secretary said: "Patients are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment when they need one. The Conservatives have closed hundreds of practices since the 2019 election and are breaking their manifesto promise to hire more GPs.
"Labour will recruit and retain the staff the NHS needs to treat patients on time."
The Government has defended its record - highlighting that it is working with the NHS and Health Education England to boost the primary care workforce - a spokesperson pointed to a record number of GP training places and having increased the number of funded medical school places.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "There are a number of reasons why there may be a gap between the date of booking and the date of an appointment – for example, patients may wish to schedule routine appointments further in advance.
"GP teams are working incredibly hard and in June they delivered over 26 million appointments, and we are creating an additional 50 million general practice appointments by 2024. There are already now nearly 1,500 more doctors in general practice than before the pandemic, and as of June 2022, almost three quarters of patients were seen within a week of booking an appointment."
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