Patients in Portsmouth and across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to see a doctor, with new national analysis finding 5 million patients were unable to book a GP’s appointment when they tried to make one in October.
The findings come as MPs prepare to vote on a motion proposed by the Labour Party to abolish the non-dom tax status, which allows some wealthy people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas, to pay for training a new generation of NHS staff. The proposals would:
- Double the number of medical school places, training 15,000 new doctors a year
- Train 10,000 additional nurses and midwives every year
- Double the number of district nurses qualifying each year
- Create 5,000 new health visitors
The plan was endorsed by Jeremy Hunt in September, the month before he became Chancellor, who said urged Liz Truss’s government to adopt it, writing “smart governments always nick the best ideas of their opponents.”
Around 1 in 7 patients did not get an appointment the last time they tried to book one in 2022, according to the GP patient survey, suggesting around 5.2 million patients missed out on an appointment last month. The figure has doubled since October last year, when an estimated 2.7 million were prevented from seeing a doctor. The most common reasons were that GP practices were not allowing patients to book ahead and there weren’t any appointments available when patients wanted them.
A further 2 million were made to wait more than a month to see their doctor in October, the most since records began in 2017, while a further 4.3 million had to wait more than two weeks.
Separate figures from the NHS reveal that there are 4,600 fewer GPs today that a decade ago in 2013. Last year, then-Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted the Conservatives were set to break their manifesto commitment to recruit 6,000 more GPs.
A Nuffield Trust report earlier this year showed that Portsmouth has the highest rate of patients to GPs in the country. According to figures from the report, the Portsmouth area has 2,438 patients for every GP.
Stephen Morgan MP, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, said:
“Protecting our local NHS and making sure Portsmouth people have access to the services they need when they need it is a top priority of mine.
Constituents are increasingly telling me the problems they encounter when trying to be seen by a GP or other medical professional, and Tory choices are making matters worse.
“The next Labour government will train a new generation of doctors and nurses, paid for by abolishing non-doms. Patients need doctor’s appointments more than the wealthiest need a tax break.”
Wes Streeting MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said:
“Patients are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment when they need one. I’m really worried that among those millions of patients unable to get an appointment, there could be serious conditions going undiagnosed until it’s 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 they 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”.
This Saturday the Portsmouth MP is hosting an event for local people to have their say on access to GPs and dentists. The event is the latest in a series of actions by Mr Morgan to speak up for Portsmouth’s patients and protect local health services.
