GP Appointment Availability Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Alex Sobel
Main Page: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)Department Debates - View all Alex Sobel's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
GP Appointment Availability
Alex Sobel Excerpts(2 years, 11 months ago)
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Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Robertson. I thank the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) for calling today’s important debate. Let me set out the challenge, and how Government can make a difference.
York Medical Group has 44,000 patients on its books. In a single calendar month, it received 41,000 calls from people who needed to see a clinician—unprecedented demand, with higher acuity, co-morbidity and complex needs. When patients get through to the call-handling system, they are triaged and, when urgent attention is needed, that is followed up by a clinical conversation. Appointments are allocated, tests are ordered, referrals are made, and prescriptions are issued.
Of course, people are also applying to see a practitioner through the internet or are turning up at the surgery. That is managed by exceptional staff, who are really pulling out all the stops to support their local community. However, this logistical agility to meet the serious demand is outstripped by the pressures placed on it. When spending time embedded in the system—as I did, spending time with call handlers and with GPs—I saw how relentless they were in trying to meet that demand, but that demand is continuing to put pressure on them.
Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)
My constituency is only 25 miles from my hon. Friend’s. A constituent came to see me last week; they could not get an appointment with their GP, but were told to go to the accident and emergency department in Leeds. It took two hours at the A&E to be triaged, and they were then told it would be a further six to seven hours to see a doctor. They ended up going home because it was too cold at the hospital to wait. Does this issue not impose pressure right across our health system, to the point that it is near collapse? Winter has not even properly started yet.