More than a third of patients were unable to access a GP when they needed one in the past year, a survey revealed today.

The poll of 1,500 Brits, carried out on behalf of MailOnline, revealed 34 per cent could not get an appointment with their local doctor when they tried to in 2022.

GP access has become a growing problem since the start of the Covid pandemic, with patients complaining of spending hours on hold from 8am when ringing their local surgery and only getting to see their doctor digitally.

More than five million people a month were unable to book a GP appointment in the year up to October 2022, according to analysis of NHS figures by the Labour Party. 

More than a third of patients were unable to access a GP when they needed one in the past year, a MailOnline survey revealed today. The poll of 1,500 Brits showed 34 per cent said they could not get an appointment their local doctor or other NHS services when they tried to in 2022

Increasing numbers of doctors are reducing their working hours and retiring early, while some are leaving to the private sector or abroad because of the pressures.

The survey, conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, asked voters in England, Wales and Scotland their opinions on NHS care standards.

It was sent out on Wednesday, when ambulance workers were on strike.

Only a fifth said they were always able to ‘promptly access’ their GP or other medical service when they tried to over the year.

Read Related Also: 6 Exciting New Items You Can Now Find at Costco

Nearly a third said they were able to ‘most of the time’, 21 per cent said ‘sometimes’, the same number were ‘rarely’ able to while 7 per cent never saw them quickly.

Overall, just 66 per cent said they were able to promptly see their GP or other service in 2022. 

The previous Labour research suggested the most common reasons patients were unable to secure a GP appointment were because practices were not allowing them to book too far in advance.

Patients also found there were no appointments available when they wanted them.

Ministers in December ordered the NHS to publish league tables showing the number of appointments and long waits at individual surgeries in a bid to improve performance and eradicate variations in standards.

Last year, then-Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted the Government is set to miss its commitment to recruit 6,000 more GPs.

In other health news…

UK suffers worst year for scarlet fever since the 1950s… so was YOUR area a hotspot? 

Think twice before having a fertility MOT! Experts fear tests sold on High Street can open ‘Pandora’s box’ and convince couples to unnecessarily fork out thousands to freeze their eggs

Are striking NHS staff on brink of new £3bn pay deal? Steve Barclay ‘admits 1million medics deserve one-off cash boost… but Treasury says he’ll have to raid his OWN budget’