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 to see a GP in England was in each of the last five years.

The average waiting time for a general practitioner (GP) appointment is not collected or held centrally. In the 2018 GP patient survey 61.6% 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 Government has committed to improving access to general practice services by 2019. This includes ensuring there are sufficient routine appointments available at evenings and weekends to meet locally determined demand, alongside effective access to out of hours and urgent care services. The latest National Health Service planning guidance, issued by NHS England in February 2018, requires clinical commissioning groups to provide extended access to general practice to their whole population by 1 October 2018, to ensure additional capacity is in place ahead of winter 2018.