The Office of National Statistics data reveal half of all adults tried to contact a family doctor – but 32% found it “difficult” or “very difficult”. This equates to 8.8 million people.
And the figures also show 86% are worried about the state of the NHS. It comes as analysis reveals hospital waiting lists are set to rise to eight million.
The data has brought frustration from medical experts. Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Every patient should be able to contact and see a GP when they need one.
“General practice has been allowed to wither on the vine for over a decade with no workforce planning, and we no longer have enough GPs to meet demand.”
And Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at independent consultancy Broadstone, said: “If people are struggling to get appointments it means chronic illnesses could be left to fester, driving longer-term health implications.”
But last night the Government defended its position on GP care. It highlighted data showing the number of appointments delivered in the year to September was 15% higher than before Covid, with 32 million people seen – 70 %of them in person.
Ministers have also promised to cut waiting times for a GP, with a maximum two-week wait, urgent same-day appointments and improvements to phone systems to end the “8am scramble”.
Neil O’Brien, Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, said: “We’re now training record numbers of GPs, recruiting more staff and investing at least £1.5billion to create 50 million more appointments a year by next year.”