General Practitioners: Standards

(asked on 12th June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for a patient to receive a GP appointment in (a) England, (b) County Durham and (c) Easington constituency.


Answered by
Steve Brine Portrait
Steve Brine
This question was answered on 15th June 2018

The average waiting time for a general practitioner (GP) appointment is not collected or held centrally. In the 2017 GP patient survey 70.8% of respondents (who could remember whether or not they were able to get an appointment, and when they wanted the appointment) stated they saw or spoke to someone at a time they wanted to or sooner. NHS England is working with NHS Digital to consider ways of improving the availability and quality of GP data, including waiting times data.

The Department currently has no plans to introduce a maximum waiting time. However, efforts are being made to ensure everyone has easier and more convenient access to GP services, including appointments at evenings and weekends. The latest National Health Service planning guidance, published by NHS England in February 2018, confirmed that more than half the country is now benefitting from improved access, including access to pre-bookable and same day appointments on weekday evenings and at weekends, and these will be available across the whole country by October this year.

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