Patients face an NHS postcode lottery when it comes to how long it takes to see a GP

Patients face an NHS postcode lottery when it comes to how long it takes to see a GP.

A total of 30.4 million GP appointments took place across the NHS in England in February, according to the latest data from the NHS. More than three-quarters of those (77 per cent) took place on the same day of booking.

That’s down from 80.7 per cent in January and 84.3 per cent in December, but is similar to the 78.5 per cent in February last year and the 76.1 per cent from September 2021, when records first began.

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A total of 2.7 million patients, however, had to wait over 22 days from the time they booked the appointment to it taking place.
That works out as one in every 11 appointments (8.8 per cent) that took place in February.

That’s an improvement on 9.5 per cent of appointments in January, and is down from 13.4 per cent in October which was a record high.

However, where you live has a huge impact on how long you have to wait to see a GP. One out of every six appointments in Gloucestershire in February (16.6 per cent) took place more than 22 days after booking - that’s the highest percentage in the country.

In Dorset the ratio was 14.1 per cent, in Norfolk it was 14 per cent, in Derby and Derbyshire it was 13.9 per cent, and in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire it was 13.6 per cent.

By contrast, only 3.2 per cent of GP appointments in north central London took place more than 22 days after booking. In north east London the ratio was 3.9 per cent, in north west London it was 4.2 per cent, in south east London it was 4.7 per cent, in south west London it was 4. per cent%, and in Coventry and Warwickshire it was 5.2 per cent.

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