7-week wait for routine GP appointments at Haxby and Wigginton

It's been revealed that residents are facing 7-week wait for routine GP appointments in Haxby and Wigginton.

Haxby and Wigginton Lib Dem Councillor Andrew Hollyer said: “Like many other GP Practices across the country, Haxby Group have difficulties with the length of time some patients are waiting for routine appointments, which had risen, over the summer to a high of 12 weeks.

"Whilst waiting times are on a downward trend, falling to about 7 weeks at the end of November, this is still far too long for residents to have to wait, and far longer than the average wait across the country.

"Long waits lead to significant extra worry and stress being placed on patients and their families and, sadly, poorer outcomes through missed and delayed diagnoses.

"We are concerned about how this downward trend can be sustained over winter, which always see extra pressures on local health services, along with the recent impact of Strep A." 

Councillor Ed Pearson added: “It is clear that there is huge respect and admiration for our health service staff and a deep debt of gratitude for their efforts during the pandemic and since.

"However, the national funding formula means that surgeries in places like Haxby and Wigginton, which have an older patient base, lose out compared to places with more younger people, who tend to visit GPs less frequently.

"It’s time local GPs were given the resources they need to be able to ensure residents get the service they deserve.”

Nationally, the Lib Dems are calling on the government to recruit 8,000 extra GPs, and make it more attractive for junior doctors to become GPs once they've been trained.

The party also wants more to be done to encourage GPs who have left the NHS to return, including by changing rules that mean doctors can face high tax bills if their earnings go above a pension cap.