Lib Dems will give patients the right to see a GP within a week

The Liberal Democrats have today (24th May) announced that their five year plan to give patients in a legal right to see a GP within a week or 24-hours if in urgent need will be in their General Election manifesto.

Last year there were 1,113,854 appointments that took over two weeks in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, equating to 18% of appointments. This included a staggering 347, 849 which took longer than a month, 6% of all appointments.

The number of disturbingly long waits across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been getting worse. In 2022, there were 775,623 over two weeks, or 14% of all appointments. Last year this shot up drastically to 1,113,854 or 18% of all appointments.

The Liberal Democrats have said that under their plans, patients will no longer be left waiting for an appointment and risk their conditions getting worse.

The party will deliver the plan by:

• Increasing the number of full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000, half by boosting recruitment and half from retaining more experienced GPs.
• Freeing up GPs’ time by giving more prescribing rights and public health advisory services to qualified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and paramedics.
• Introducing a universal 24/7 GP booking system.
• Removing top-down bureaucracy to let practices hire the staff they need and invest in training.

Cambridgeshire’s Liberal Democrats said that this Conservative government had “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for this community's patients”.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, Ian Sollom said:

“This Conservative government’s neglect has caused huge damage to our local health services. Agonising waits, sometimes in terrible pain, are the reality for too many patients wanting to see their GP.

“The Conservative party are simply unfit to run our NHS. Local health services have been driven into the ground and patients are living with the consequences.

“Patients should be able to see their GP when they need to. The Liberal Democrats commitment to a legal right to see a GP within a week is the fair deal for patients we need.”