'Impossible to see a GP' says Hartlepool MP hopeful as number of people waiting a month or more for appointments revealed

NHS data revealed 1,896 people in Hartlepool faced a wait of 28 days or more for an appointment in January.

The figures also showed a further 5,753 people across the town had to wait more than two weeks.

Labour councillor Jonathan Brash, who will stand for MP in the next general election, fears conditions are going undiagnosed due to the difficulties in getting an appointment and is calling on the Government to double the number of medical school places.

The Department of Health and Social Care says it is growing the general practice workforce and creating more appointments.

Cllr Brash said: “Patients in Hartlepool are finding it impossible to see a GP when they need to.

"Among those nearly 2,000 waiting more than a month or not getting an appointment at all, there will be conditions going undiagnosed until it is too late.

“Anyone who has had to rely on the NHS recently can see it is desperately short of staff. The NHS is backing Labour’s plan to double medical school places. Why isn’t the Government?

“Patients should be able to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose, when they need to. Labour will put patients first and get them seen on time again.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) said in January there were over 2,000 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs compared to September 2015.

Labour is urging Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to double the number of medical school places and train 10,000 more nurses and midwives in next week’s Budget.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it is investing at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million appointments a year by 2024, adding there were almost four million more appointments in January compared to the previous year.

They said: “We are growing the general practice workforce, with over 2,000 more doctors in general practice and 25,000 wider primary care staff compared to 2019.

“Our Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme has attracted hundreds of doctors to train in hard to recruit locations by providing a one-off financial incentive of £20,000.

"Eight hundreds places were available last year, including 71 across Durham and Tees Valley.”