Surrey saw a 33% rise in ‘four week waits’ for GP appointments last year when compared to 2022, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The NHS data measures the time between when the appointment was booked and when it took place. It showed that the number of appointments that saw patients wait two weeks or longer in Surrey has spiked by 18% to 1,050,789 in 2023, up from 888,151 the previous year. It means the proportion of appointments where a patient waited two weeks or longer in Surrey has risen to 17.6%, up from 16.2% in 2022.

The Lib Dems and I have criticised the Conservative Government for letting the community down with their neglect of local health services. We are calling for a legal right to get a GP appointment within seven days, or 24 hours if in urgent need.

The policy would enshrine this right in the NHS Constitution, putting a duty on the Government and health service to make sure it happens. It would be achieved by increasing the number of GPs, as well as the number of nurses and pharmacists fully qualified to prescribe day to day medicines.

Far too many people in Surrey are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one. It is causing people huge anxiety because they can’t be confident any more of getting the care they need. It shows our community has been totally abandoned by this Government when it comes to local health services.

Being able to see a GP when you need to, should not be too much to ask, but even on this measure people are being failed after years of neglect by this Conservative Government. That is why the Lib Dems are calling for a legal right for all patients to see their GP within seven days or 24-hours if in urgent need.