A website that enables people to report problems getting appointments with their GPs within the 48-hour national target has been set up by a Conservative MP.
Grant Shapps, Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield, says that he has set up the website because he believes that many patients are not seen within the 48-hour target – and that official statistics do not reflect this.
Since its launch last month, the website www.48hourgp.com has received dozens of complaints about breaches of the target. The Department of Health insists that access to GPs has improved, and said that 87% of patients were now seen within the 48-hour deadline.
The 48-hour wait target, which was set 18-months ago, states that all patients should be able to get an appointment to see their GP within two days, and practices receive extra money if they meet it.
The problem is that people who don’t get through on the phone obviously aren’t being recorded in the figures.
Shapps says many patients remain unsatisfied with the unintended consequences of the target, and that he launched the website to gather evidence of this.
Shapps told the BBC: "The problem is that people who don’t get through on the phone obviously aren’t being recorded in the figures, and that means the picture looks better than it actually is.
He added: "The point of the website is to give people the opportunity to record problems they have getting an appointment."
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