The four-week waits for a GP appointment in Berkshire West, which includes Wokingham, have already reached 69,103 this year, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
Wokingham’s Liberal Democrat MP, Clive Jones, said the figures demonstrate “how the Conservatives broke Wokingham’s health services”.
He has called on the Government to make the Autumn budget an “NHS budget” that provides emergency funding – especially for GP surgeries so people can get an appointment when they need one.
This comes after last week’s report by Lord Darzi found the UK had almost 16% fewer qualified GPs than other high income countries relative to our population.
The Liberal Democrats want to give everyone the urgent right to a GP appointment within a week, or within 24 hours if in urgent need, which would be delivered by increasing the number of GPs to 8,000.
Jones said: “Everyone deserves an appointment when they need one, but sadly, many people in Wokingham are waiting over a month for an appointment as a result of the Conservatives wrecking the NHS.
“Many people in our area are worried that they simply won’t be able to get seen when they need to be.
“People in Wokingham know just how badly the Conservative Party broke down our NHS, but it is now time for the new government to tackle this crisis with the urgency it requires.
“This means listening to the Liberal Democrats who are campaigning for everyone to have the legal right to see a GP within seven days – by recruiting thousands more GPs.
“It’s absolutely vital for repairing our NHS.”
