The party that triumphs in next month’s election must finally end the crisis in access to NHS and so (Image: Getty)
The party that triumphs in next month’s election must finally end the crisis in access to NHS and social care services for older people, Age UK declares today.
The charity’s latest damning report lays bare the extent to which vulnerable people are being “fobbed off” as they struggle to get crucial support.
Heartbreaking testimony from patients details long ambulance waits, cancelled surgeries, battles for GP appointments and plummeting confidence in the health system.
One pensioner said: “All of this leaves me feeling that now that I am 76 years old it is time I popped off and stopped bothering an over stressed, overworked, underpaid NHS.”
A survey of 2,600 over 50s commissioned by Age UK found two thirds worried the NHS was not able to cope with soaring demand.
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Difficulty making a GP appointment was a concern for half of those surveyed (Image: Getty)
Less than half (48 percent) were confident that any medical problem would be dealt with. Eight in ten believed the Government should be doing more to support the NHS and social care.
A survey respondent said: “Everyone I know has exactly the same experiences and feeling of despair at the state of our dear old NHS now.”
Another commented: “I feel that I have been written off as I’m over 60 and cost the practice too much money.”
Problems accessing GP services were another common concern cited by 49 percent.
Issues included difficulty making contact by phone or using online systems and not being able to see a doctor in person.
One patient told the charity: “I have a screenshot of my 445 attempts to contact my GP surgery appointment line during one morning.
“Finally got through to be told they no longer provide the service I was trying to make an appointment for. No alternative given.”
Women, people from deprived backgrounds and those living with long-term conditions were among those worst affected.
Separate data from last year’s NHS GP Patient Survey showed almost half (45 percent) of those questioned did not find it easy to get through to their GP by phone, while a third had trouble finding information online.
Some 23 percent could not book an appointment for the time or day they wanted and eight percent said they could not get one soon enough.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK charity director, said: “Sadly, for some older people, healthcare delayed means healthcare denied, because they do not have time on their side.
“Our new analysis highlights just how many are being subjected to distress and, in some cases, enduring pain, because of their difficulties in accessing the GP services that they need.”
Writing in the Daily Express, Silver Voices director Dennis Reed says GP access is still a “burning concern” for many older people. He adds: “You may have a named GP in the practice, but you may never see them.
“The days of continuity of care and a family doctor who understands the medical history of your family have all but disappeared.”
Ms Abrahams said many GPs were “working their socks off to try to meet a level of need that is greater than it was before the pandemic”.
She added: “It is also clear that our older population is less well than before Covid-19 struck, with many older people living with a number of serious long term health problems.
“That’s why Age UK is calling for more investment in GP practices, primary care and community services from our incoming government, to begin to turn the curve.
“Coupled with a re-energised social care system, and a local focus on supporting older people to stay well, this would really make a big difference to the quality of their lives, as well as helping hospitals to function more effectively into the bargain.”
The poll also showed that 19 percent of over 50s were concerned about their ability to access a home care worker or carer, and the same proportion worried about accessing dementia services, such as a memory clinic.
Age UK warned the problems were hitting vulnerable patients at a time in life when they are most reliant on healthcare services to remain independent.
Delays often mean that ailments which could have been easily treated worsen, or patients give up on seeking care entirely, the report added.
The charity’s recommendations for the next Government include a call for GP and community services to offer more support for long-term conditions and frailty.
Action must be taken to clear waiting lists and ensure local health bodies implement Ageing Well Strategies, setting out how they will invest in public health into older age, the report said.
And it suggests a national campaign to encourage older people to stay physically active as a preventative measure.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said doctors and their teams shared patients’ frustration about access problems.
She added: “The unfortunate truth is that we simply don’t have enough GPs for the number of patients who are in need of care.
“The average number of patients per fully qualified GP is now 2,294, meaning each GP is, on average, responsible for 154 more patients than there were five years ago.
“With general election campaigning under way, all political parties need to be prioritising real investment in general practice to fix this crisis.”
A spokesperson for the Conservatives said: “We are committed to ensuring those who need care receive it – which is why we have opened 160 community diagnostic centres to bring care closer to home and we are committed to delivering 50 more.
“We are also expanding Pharmacy First so people can get the service they need in their local pharmacy, without having to have a GP appointment.
“Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan to continue to drive down waiting times and bring care closer to home for patients.”
GP access is a burning issue, says DENNIS REED
Silver Voices has been campaigning since the end of the pandemic for better access to GPs and this is still a burning issue at local level.
The research conducted by Age UK mirrors the results of our big survey on the subject last year.
In some areas it is still almost impossible to see a GP. If you can find your way through the bureaucratic barriers to make an appointment, you will probably find that the appointment is not with a doctor at all, more likely a nurse or a pharmacist.
And you may have a named GP in the practice, but you may never see them. The days of continuity of care and a family doctor who understands the medical history of your family have all but disappeared.
For older people in particular, because we often have multiple conditions, it is essential that an initial face-to-face appointment takes place, so that a holistic diagnosis by a qualified doctor can take place.
Then, if the symptoms can be treated by another member of the practice staff, all the better.
Silver Voices has also been campaigning hard to arrest the trend towards online only appointment systems and we have made some progress.
Under our pressure, NHS England has agreed a new GP contract which requires GP practices to give parity to three different ways of making appointments, telephone, online and walk-in.
Unfortunately, some practices are still making it abundantly clear that they prefer online access only. We will keep pushing on this aspect.
None of the political parties has so far convinced us that they have policies to improve face-to-face access to GPs.
We will continue to argue for a legal right for all UK patients to have a timely face-to-face appointment with a GP.
– Dennis Reed is director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices