DR NO

Shock rise in month-long waits to see family docs

- MARTIN BAGOT 

A LACK of GPs is fuelling the shocking rise in month-long waits for patients to be seen at their local surgeries, a family doctors chief has warned.

Across all areas of England waiting times increased last year, with figures showing they soared by 79% in the worst-hit region.

The Royal College of GPs said a fall in the number of family doctors has led to an unbearable workload which is having a knock-on effect on patients.

Despite a pre-election promise by the Tories to boost the number of practitioners by 6,000 in England, there are now 627 fewer fully qualified GPs, at 27,502.

Royal College of GPs Vice Chair Dr Victoria TzortziouBrown said: "The bottom line is that we don't have enough GPs to keep up with the growing need for our care, and patients feel the impact most.