Thousands in Ashfield struggle to see a GP

Across the area covered by Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group, around one in six people said they were forced to wait at least seven days when they phoned for an appointment in the last year according to a NHS England CCG Report.

The annual NHS England survey, also revealed that local patients struggle to see the family doctor of their own choosing.

Across the local region 43 per cent or 41,657 people - who have a preferred GP had to see another doctor when they last went to their surgery.

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero said she was very concerned by the findings in the survey.

She said; “These figures are a real concern and further proof that Nick Clegg and David Cameron can’t be trusted be trusted with our NHS.

“Within days of the last election, they scrapped Labour’s appointments guarantee and now thousands of people have been left waiting for over a week to be seen.

“Ministers need to take full responsibility and explain to the people of Ashfield why they have to wait longer to get an appointment with their Doctor.”

She added: “A Labour Government would improve services, ease the pressure on hospitals and restore the right values to the heart of the NHS.

Spokesperson for NHS England in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire said:

“The area was successfully awarded £5.2m from the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund, in order to test new ways of working and improving access to General Practice locally. NHS England’s Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Area Team has worked closely with local Clinical Commissioning Groups to develop plans to improve GP access for patients. This one-off award is now being invested to test new initiatives and service developments across the area over the next 12 months.

“As part of NHS England’s ‘Improving General Practice – A Call to Action’ initiative, several pilot schemes will shortly run at a number of GP practices in Nottinghamshire where extended access will be offered to patients. Some practices will be offering seven day services through local collaborative arrangements as part of the scheme, and others will test greater use of IT and technology in order to increase and improve access to services for patients. There will be further investment in developing integrated health and social care services, in some localities, with a single point of contact for patients.

“The pilot schemes will hopefully give patients improved access to GP services to fit round work and family life, whilst they will also give GP practices an even stronger role at the heart of the community, delivering better health outcomes for patients and more personalised care.”