Lib Dems announce five-year plan to give patients in Maidenhead right to see a GP within a week
– A five-year plan to give patients in Maidenhead the right to see their GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need, will be in the Liberal Democrat General Election manifesto, the party has today announced
– Last year, 610,000 appointments in NHS Frimley took longer than two weeks to happen; under the Liberal Democrat plans, every single patient will have the right to see their GP within seven days.
– Maidenhead Liberal Democrats have said that this Conservative government has “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for this community’s patients”.
The Liberal Democrats have today (24th May) announced that their General Election manifesto will include a five-year plan to give patients in Maidenhead a legal right to see a GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need
Last year, there were 610,000 appointments that took over two weeks in Frimley, equating to 13.6% of appointments. This included a staggering 131,000 which took longer than a month, 3% of all appointments.
The number of disturbingly long waits in NHS Frimley has been getting worse. In 2022, there were 508,000 over two weeks. Last year this shot up to 610,000.
The Liberal Democrats have said that under their plans, patients will no longer be left waiting for an appointment and risk their conditions getting worse.
The party will deliver the plan by:
– Increasing the number of full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000, half by boosting recruitment and half from retaining more experienced GPs.
– Freeing up GPs’ time by giving more prescribing rights and public health advisory services to qualified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and paramedics.
– Introducing a universal 24/7 GP booking system.
– Removing top-down bureaucracy to let practices hire the staff they need and invest in training.
Maidenhead’s Liberal Democrats say that this Conservative government has “abandoned local health services” and are calling for a “fair deal for this community’s patients”.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Maidenhead, Joshua Reynolds said:
“This Conservative government has driven our area’s local health services into the ground. Thousands of patients in Maidenhead are facing agonisingly long waits, often in terrible pain, whilst waiting to see their GP.
“The Conservative party have proven themselves totally unfit to run our NHS. They have abandoned local health services and it is patients bearing the brunt of their neglect.
“It should not be too much to ask for patients to be able to see their GP when they need to. That is why the Liberal Democrats have committed to a fair deal for this community’s patients and the legal right to see a GP within a week.”