Dozens of desperate patients queue 'around the block' before 8am for GP appointment

Release time：2024-05-07 17:21:47 Source：Culture Chronicle news portal

Desperate Brits have queued 'around the block' outside a GP surgery in the hope of getting an appointment. 

In scenes illustrating the never-ending crisis plaguing the country, dozens lined up yesterday outside Hilly Fields Medical Centre in Brockley, south London from the crack of dawn with the goal of securing a spot. 

One woman, who queued for an hour and 45 minutes before being told there were none left, slammed the 'shambles' of a situation. 

Others in the queue were 'getting quite cross' and 'upset', she said. 

Posting a picture of the queue on X, formerly known as Twitter, patient Anna-Maria Cahalane revealed she decided to queue after failing for days to get through to the surgery via phone. 

In scenes illustrating the never-ending crisis plaguing the country, dozens lined up yesterday outside Hilly Fields Medical Centre in Brockley, south London from the crack of dawn with the goal of securing a spot. Posting a picture of the queue on X, formerly known as Twitter , patient Anna-Maria Cahalane revealed she decided to queue after failing for days to get through to the surgery via phone

Ms Cahalane, who queued for an hour and 45 minutes before being told there were no appointments left, slammed the 'shambles' of a situation. Others in the queue were 'getting quite cross' and 'upset', she said 

Ms Cahalane (pictured), who runs a nature reserve and is a tutor for pupils with learning difficulties, added: 'It was just getting really quite stressful for people. 'A lady, I think she must have been the manager, just shouted out "all emergency appointments are gone for today", we hadn't even got to the door' 

But when she arrived at 7.45am there were already 25 people in front of her.

The 50-year-old said: 'I thought I'd get there extra early so I got there around 7.45.

'And as I was walking down towards the GP practice, I saw there was already a queue all along the pavement, which alarmed me.

'I counted there were about 25 people ahead of me. And I took the picture then because I just thought this is unbelievable. 

'This is the worst I've seen it, I've seen it bad but never as bad this.'

READ MORE: France to FINE patients who miss GP appointments £4.30 in bid to free up millions of slots

Ms Cahalane, who runs a nature reserve and is a tutor for pupils with learning difficulties, added: 'It was just getting really quite stressful for people.

'A lady, I think she must have been the manager, just shouted out "all emergency appointments are gone for today", we hadn't even got to the door.'

After reaching the receptionist, who apologised for the queue, she was told to come back next day. 

'I said, "I can't queue up like this again, there must be another option"', Ms Cahalane added.

'She suggested phoning and I told her it is always engaged. And she just said "I'm sorry there's nothing I can do".'

Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting slammed the delays, arguing: 'What a damning indictment on 14 years of Conservative Government, that patients are literally queueing around the block to see a GP.

'The Conservatives have cut 2,000 GPs since 2015, leaving millions unable to get an appointment at all. The longer the Conservatives are in office, the longer patients wait.

'Labour will fix the front door of the NHS with investment and reform. We will train thousands more GPs and cut the red tape that ties up their time, so patients can easily book appointments with their family doctor.'

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the South East London Integrated Care Board, which oversees primary care services in the region, said: 'Hilly Fields Medical Centre apologised for the inconvenience patients experienced today.

'The practice is planning to implement a new call hub in the next 10 days which should improve their response to phone calls, and they will be launching an online triage system soon, which should also make it easier for patients to contact the practice.'

Last year, the Government promised more than 1,000 GP surgeries would have their telephone systems upgraded by spring, which officials claimed would end the '8am scramble' for appointments.

Latest NHS figures show the health service is offering around 1.4million GP appointments nationally every working day.  

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'We don't know the circumstances that led to this specific situation, and every practice will have its own way of taking bookings and managing demand, but patients should never have this much difficulty securing a GP appointment.

'GPs feel our patients' frustrations when they struggle to access our care and services – ultimately this is the result of years of underfunding in general practice and poor NHS workforce planning.

She added: 'The average number of patients per fully qualified GP continues to rise and is now 2,298, meaning each GP is, on average, responsible for 158 more patients than they were five years ago.

'This isn't sustainable – general practice is at breaking point, and it's our patients bearing the brunt.'

It comes as a damning analysis last week revealed almost one in 20 patients are having to wait a month for an appointment. 

The number of patients facing lengthy waits of a month or more has rocketed by 38 per cent in the last year — from 12.8 to 17.6million appointments.

GPs have long complained they are overwhelmed due to the pressures of the rising and ageing population and a lack of government funding. Many are choosing to retire in their 50s or move abroad. 

Under recommendations implemented by the BMA and European Union of General Practitioners, GPs in the UK today should not deliver more than 25 appointments a day to ensure 'safe care'.

But family doctors have reported cramming in up to 90 appointments per day, in a situation compared to a conveyor belt.

GPs have also warned strikes could still be 'on the table' after a referendum of family doctors, carried out by the British Medical Association, found 99 per cent of the 19,000 respondents rejected the new NHS contract. 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson today argued, however, the government was delivering '50 million more GP appointments per year'.

They said: 'We are taking action to improve access to GPs, and by sticking with our plan for a faster, simpler, fairer healthcare system, we are now delivering 50 million more GP appointments per year.

'Our Primary Care Recovery Plan, backed by £645 million over two years, is expanding the services offered by community pharmacies through Pharmacy First, which will help free up to 10 million GP appointments per year.

'We are also investing £240 million on digital tools, telephony and training for GP surgeries, and we have cut overall NHS waiting lists for four months running despite disruptive strikes and record winter pressures.'

What does the latest GP appointment data show?

Appointments held: 30.4million

Attended: 90.1 per cent 

Seen by GP: 45.2 per cent

Seen by nurse: 20.4 per cent 

Face-to-face appointment: 66.6 per cent

Phone appointment: 26.1 per cent

Same day: 43.5 per cent

Up to one week wait: 26.3 per cent

One to two week wait: 13.7 per cent

Two to four weeks wait: 12.4 per cent

NHS England data for February

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