Health: Five year plan to give patients right to see GP release for approval
Lib Dems announce five year plan to give patients in Esher & Walton right to see a GP within a week
A five year plan to give patients in Esher and Walton a right to see their GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need, will be in the Liberal Democrat General Election manifesto the party has today announced
Last year 1,050,789 appointments in the Surrey Heartlands area, which covers Esher and Walton, took longer than two weeks to happen. Under the Liberal Democrats plans every single patient will have the right to see their GP in seven days
Monica Harding, Liberal Democrat candidate for Esher and Walton has said that this Conservative government has “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for our local community in Esher and Walton”
The Liberal Democrats have today (24th May) announced that their five year plan to give patients in Esher and Walton 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 1,050,789 appointments that took over two weeks in the Surrey Heartlands area, equating to 17.6% of appointments. This included a staggering 294,176 which took longer than a month - 4.9% of all appointments.
The number of disturbingly long waits in the Surrey Heartlands area has been getting worse. In 2022, there were 888,151 over two weeks, or 16.2% of all appointments. Last year this shot up drastically to 1,050,789 or 17.6% of all appointments.
The plans state that 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.
Monica Harding said that this Conservative government had “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for our local community in Esher and Walton".
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Esher and Walton, Monica Harding said:
“This Conservative government has driven our area’s local health services into the ground. Thousands of patients in Esher and Walton are facing agonisingly long waits, often in terrible pain whilst waiting to see their GP.
“The chance for change is finally here. The Conservative party have proven themselves totally unfit to run our NHS. They have abandoned local health services and it is patients bearing the brunt of their neglect.
“It should not be too much to ask for patients to be able to see their GP when they need to. That is why the Liberal Democrats have committed to a fair deal for this community’s patients and legal right to see a GP within a week.”