Lib Dems announce five year plan to give patients in Redditch right to see a GP within a week
Lib Dems announce five year plan to give patients in Redditch right to see a GP within a week
- A five year plan to give patients in Redditch a 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 nearly 1 million appointments in Hereford and Worcestershire took longer than two weeks to happen, under the Liberal Democrats plans every single patient will have the right to see their GP in seven days
- Redditch’s Liberal Democrats have said that this Conservative government had “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 five year plan to give patients in Redditch a legal right to see a GP within a week or 24-hours if in urgent need will be in their General Election manifesto.
The number of disturbingly long waits in Hereford and Worcestershire has been getting worse. In 2022, there were 743,310 over two weeks, or 14.2% of all appointments. Last year this shot up drastically to 959,922 or 17.4% of all appointments, that’s an increase of 29%.
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.
This Conservative government has abandoned local health services and we call for a fair deal for this community's patients.
This Conservative government has driven our area’s local health services into the ground. Thousands of patients in Redditch 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.
Andrew Fieldsend-Roxborough, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Redditch and the Villages