September 15th 2024.
Recently, a report by Lord Darzi on the state of the NHS highlighted the issue of the low number of GPs in the UK. This has resulted in patients having to wait for over a month to secure an appointment with their local family doctor. In fact, the latest figures show that this has happened over 10 million times this year alone.
It seems that 2024 is set to be a record-breaking year for long waiting times in England, with the worst-performing area being Gloucestershire where 10.1% of appointments involved waits of four weeks or more. Lord Darzi's report also revealed that there are nearly 16% fewer fully qualified GPs in the UK compared to other high-income countries, taking into account the population size.
The Liberal Democrats, who produced the statistics on long waiting times, are urging the government to prioritize the NHS in their upcoming Budget. Party leader Sir Ed Davey emphasized the importance of addressing the GP crisis, as it can lead to fewer people needing hospital treatment, ultimately benefiting both patients and the NHS.
Sir Ed also proposed that British citizens should have the right to see their GP within seven days, or within 24 hours for urgent matters. The Darzi report was highly critical of the reforms implemented by former health secretary Andrew Lansley in 2012, which came into effect during the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
Current Health Secretary Wes Streeting has acknowledged the need for significant changes in the NHS, following Lord Darzi's scathing review of the health service. The Liberal Democrats have also expressed regret over their involvement in the coalition government and the decisions made during that time. Deputy leader and health spokesperson Daisy Cooper admitted that the party was fighting to protect the day-to-day spending on health and education, but ultimately, the Lansley reforms were a mistake.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged the broken state of the NHS and stressed the importance of shifting the focus of healthcare from hospitals to the community. They also stated that the government is committed to hiring an additional 1,000 GPs by the end of the year and has allocated an extra £311 million towards GP contract funding for the upcoming year.
The Liberal Democrat conference, currently being held in Brighton, has seen many speeches and discussions centered around health and social care policy. This is the first gathering since the party's successful General Election results, where they gained 57 more seats, bringing their total to 72. Both Daisy Cooper and Sir Ed Davey are expected to address the issue of the NHS in their speeches, reflecting the party's strong stance on improving the state of healthcare in the UK.
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