Doctor wait times prove Conservative cuts have put the NHS in ‘crisis’, Labour says Nearly two million people have to wait over a month for a doctors appointment

New figures from NHS digital have shown that the wait time for a doctors appointment has continued to rise, with nearly seven million people waiting at least two weeks to see their GP in October this year.

The data showed that 2.45 million patients waited 15 – 21 days to see a doctor, while 1.69 million waited between 22 and 28 days and 1.66 million had to wait over 28 days to be seen.

The number of people requiring appointments has also raised from 29.7 million in October 2018 to 30.8 million in October this year.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

Labour has blamed Conservative cuts for the increase in wait times, describing the figures as “yet more damning evidence of the crisis our NHS is in after a decade of Tory cuts”.

Labour’s plan for the NHS

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, added that the Conservatives had “allowed the numbers of family’s doctors in our communities to fall”.

“Many of these patients will be elderly in desperate need yet they have been left waiting and waiting. It’s a disgrace and comes after cuts to 17,000 hospital beds under the Tories.

“You can’t trust Boris Johnson with our NHS but you can trust Labour to deliver the standards of care patients deserve with our £40 billion cash rescue plan,” he added.

Labour has proposed £40 billion for local clinics which they say will raise the number of trained GPs from 3,500 to 5,000 a year and more appointments.

The Conservative’s plan

The Conservatives refute claims that the NHS is in crisis, and promised that they would raise the number of GPs training per year to 4,000 if they were elected.

They also hope to recruit more GPs from abroad.

“It’s great news that we’ve seen an increase in the number of GPs, and that more people are getting a GP appointment the same or next day,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

“A Conservative majority government will create 6,000 more GPs and deliver 50 million more GP appointments – to make sure everyone can get the care and treatment they need faster.”