Five million patients are waiting more than a fortnight to see their GP, figures reveal. Therese Coffey, when health secretary last September, announced an “expectation” that everyone who needs an appointment should get one within two weeks.
But analysis by Labour found that, in the following five months, 24 million people waited longer than that time – an average of around five million per month.
In February, 4.1 million out of 27.3 million appointments were held more than two weeks after booking.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting is expected to promise training for thousands more doctors in a speech at the King’s Fund think tank in London.
Labour has said it plans to fund medical school places by abolishing the non-dom tax status.
Mr Streeting said: “These unacceptable waiting times mean illnesses will go undiagnosed for longer, while patients are left in pain and discomfort for weeks, or even months.
Labour has said it plans to fund medical school places by abolishing the non-dom tax status.
Mr Streeting said: “These unacceptable waiting times mean illnesses will go undiagnosed for longer, while patients are left in pain and discomfort for weeks, or even months.
“Labour will fix the front door to the NHS, starting by doubling medical school places, so we train 7,500 extra doctors and 10,000 more nurses a year.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said 85 percent of appointments were taking place within two weeks, and almost half on the same day.
She added: “We share our patients’ frustrations when they struggle to access our care.
“However, this is not down to GPs and their hard-working teams, but due to decades of under-funding and poor resource planning.”
Labour also pledged to guarantee face-to-face appointments for anyone who wants one and to “bring back the family doctor” so patients can see the same GP each time.
But a source branded the plan “completely undeliverable” after government analysis suggested it would require an extra 43,000 full-time GPs.
The source, close to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, said: “Labour’s ideas are completely undeliverable and would bring chaos to GP surgeries, worsening the 8am scramble for an appointment.”
