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Three-quarters of patients in some parts of the UK cannot see the same GP each time they visit a doctor, and the Labor Party has vowed to end the ‘post code lottery’ for appointments.
A labor analysis of the latest NHS England GP appointment data shows that three out of four patients in Solihull in the West Midlands, Gosport in Hampshire and Fenland in Cambridgeshire say they ‘rarely or most of the time’ see their chosen doctor. I don’t see you at all. Figures from the National Statistics Office.
Meanwhile, in some regions, only 50% of GP appointments are made face-to-face, with the other half primarily over the phone.
Patients in Mendip, Somerset, are now the least likely to receive an in-person appointment anywhere in England, with almost 51% of all consultations done online or by phone in February.
People living in Slough, Berkshire and Hastings, East Sussex were also about half as likely to have in-person appointments in February.
72% of appointments across England were in person in February, compared to 85% in the same month in 2020 before the pandemic.
Labor has said it will guarantee visits to all patients who want them if it wins the next general election.
It has also committed to reinstating family doctors, and an NHS review found that seeing the same GP consistently benefits patients and helps doctors catch serious illness early. points out that it was found that
Shadow Health Executive Director Wes Streeting said: However, patients find it completely impossible to get an appointment with the doctor they want, let alone the way they want. ”
“This figure is not surprising given that the Conservative Party has cut 2,000 GPs since 2015,” Streeting said, adding that the Labor government would increase the number of doctors trained each year from 7,500 to 2,000. He promised to double the number to 15,000.
The party will abolish non-resident tax status, which would allow foreign nationals living in the UK to pay a flat fee of £30,000 per year in exchange for protection of their overseas income from UK tax. , said it would fund the move.
This follows criticism from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murthy, who had previously claimed non-resident status. Marty then announced that he would start paying British tax on his worldwide income.
According to a recent study by researchers from the University of Warwick and the London School of Economics, abolishing the non-resident tax regime could generate around £3.2 billion in annual revenue.
The Labor Party says it will also cut the wait time for the GP as it aims to match the prime minister on five key pledges to “fix the economy”.
The party said it would crack down on the current GP waiting time “zip code lottery” because 11% of patients in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, have been waiting for more than a month to see a doctor, according to the latest statistics. rice field. like Coventry.
Sir Kea Sturmer is set to release details of Labor’s plans to amend the NHS next week, and the Labor leader confirmed the GP’s decision under Conservative control during a visit to the NHS’s site on Monday. We plan to emphasize that the numbers are declining.
Streeting also plans to shed more light on Labor’s plan to “fundamentally reform the NHS” in next week’s speech, and the shadow health secretary will integrate health care more closely with communities and regions. We are planning to clarify the vision of the party.
Earlier this year, Sunak pledged to reduce long wait times for urgent NHS care as part of his “five priorities” for 2023.
The prime minister said the government would fund thousands more beds and 800 new ambulances to tackle the “serious challenges” facing the sector.
But relations between the NHS and ministers plummeted to new lows this week as junior doctors launched a four-day strike over an ongoing wage dispute, marking the largest strike in NHS history.
Nurses have also been preparing a campaign to strike all winter because they rejected wage deals with the government and demanded “historic” pay increases.
The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents junior doctors, has refused to rule out the possibility of coordinating industrial action with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to exert maximum pressure on the government.
Dr Arjan Singh, chairman of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Young Physicians Committee, said: “We have a very close relationship with the RCN and all options need to be explored.”