The Liberal Democrats have announced that their five year plan to give patients in Derbyshire a legal right to see a GP within a week or 24-hours if in urgent need will be in their General Election manifesto.
In a statement, the party said that, last year, there were 1,685,383 appointments that took over two weeks here in Derbyshire, equating to 24.3% of appointments. This included 633,184 which took longer than a month, equating to 9.3% of all appointments. The Liberal Democrats have said that their plans are for every single patient to have the right to see their GP within seven days.
The statement also described the extent of long waits in Derbyshire as "disturbing", and claimed that the extent of time had been getting worse, suggesting that, in 2022, there were 1,368,702 over two weeks, or 20.9% of all appointments, but that in 2023, this had risen to 1,658,383 or 24.3% of all appointments.
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 has pledged to 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.The Liberal Democrats claimed that the current Conservative government had “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for Derbyshire’s patients”.
The Erewash borough is covered by two constituencies. Erewash, currently held by Conservative MP Maggie Throup, and Mid Derbyshire, currently held by Conservative MP Pauline Latham. Barry Holliday is the Liberal Democrat's candidate for the Mid-Derbyshire seat and spokesman for the party in the area. He said: “This Conservative government has driven our area’s local health services into the ground. Thousands of patients in Derbyshire 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 legal right to see a GP within a week.”
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