22 January 2024 , 00:01
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GP funding has been dramatically slashed, leading to longer waits for patients, new analysis shows.
In the last four years, funding has been slashed by £350million in real terms - an average of £12 per patient, according to the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile 1.5million GP appointments in November took place four weeks or more after they were first booked - nearly one in 20 of all appointments.
The findings have been branded "unforgivable" as Rishi Sunak is accused of being out of touch with patients' needs. An an expert has warned that failing to properly fund GPs is costly to taxpayers in the long run.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: "It is unforgivable that the Conservative government has slashed funding for GP practices at a time of rising demand. Millions of people are being left anxious or waiting in pain because they can't get an appointment with their GP.
"The Conservative Party's record on the NHS is one of total neglect and failure. Rishi Sunak is completely out of touch with patients struggling to get the care they need.
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"Being able to see your GP when you need to should be the very cornerstone of the NHS." He said the Lib Dems have drawn up plans giving people a legal right to see their GP within seven days, or 24 hours if they were in urgent need.
The analysis shows that investment in practices for 2022/23 was 6.9% down on 2018/19, taking inflation into account. This meant average funding per patient was £165, down £12 over the last four years.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), said: "We now know that for every £1 invested in primary care, at least £14 is delivered in productivity across the working community - so it makes absolutely no sense that spending on general practice is falling in real terms."
She added: "Across the NHS, we have seen health inequalities worsen over the past decade, and this has been felt even more so in recent years due to the cost-of-living crisis - a college survey found that 73% of GPs have seen an increase in patients presenting with conditions linked to poverty." Prof Hawthorne called November the "busiest on record" or GPs, who delivered more than 31 million appointments.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We are committed to improving access to GPs, and we are now delivering 50 million more GP appointments per year. The most recent data shows GP funding increased in real terms by 19% between 2017 and 2022, and our Primary Care Recovery Plan is investing £645 million to expand pharmaceutical services and take pressure off general practice.
"We are also investing £240 million on digital tools, telephony and training to ensure GP surgeries have what they need to improve access for patients."