Nearly a quarter of British adults (23 per cent) have used overloaded accident and emergency (A&E) departments because cannot access GP appointmentsan exclusive survey for Yo suggests.
Those ages 18 to 24 were the most likely (43 percent) to use A&E because I couldn’t get an appointment with their family doctor, compared to about a third (32 percent) of people ages 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 (30 percent), the Redfield & Wilton survey shared exclusively with Yo presented.
Older age groups were less likely to use A&E in lieu of a GP appointment, with 16 per cent of people aged 55 to 64 and over 65 saying they had sought urgent hospital care, and 12 percent from 45 to 54 years of age.
The figures underscored some of the drivers of the crisis unfolding in emergency departments across the country, as access to both urgent care and GPs is reduced.
With the NHS meanwhile facing a 7m patient waiting listFor elective treatment, meanwhile, voters said they blamed the government more (46 percent) for delays in care, rather than the Covid pandemic (20 percent) often cited by Rishi Sunak.
Even 2019 Conservative voters said they blamed the government (29%) more than the pandemic (26%), though NHS senior managers were most to blame (30%) according to this group.
underlining the Issues facing the Prime Minister in the run up to the upcoming elections.voters were much more likely (34 percent) to say that Labor has a credible plan to improve the NHS than the Conservatives (15 percent), although these figures were nearly reversed among those who backed Sunak’s party in 2019.
Elsewhere, the public was largely satisfied with the care they had received in person on the NHS last year.
But the majority (57 per cent) said they thought most NHS patients could receive better care.
Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) said most patients don’t get the care they need as soon as possible.
Philip van Scheltinga, director of research at Redfield & Wilton Strategies, said: “Public approval of the Conservative Party’s performance has collapsed in almost every policy domain, from the economy and immigration to housing and education, but nowhere is public disapproval greater than in the NHS.
“Without doubt, the NHS, an institution founded by Labor, has always been the weak point of the Conservatives.
“Even when they have led general voting intention polls in the past, they would still be less trusted than Labor on the NHS.
“However, the state of public distrust of government on this issue has become so regrettable that even if the Conservatives could provide several billion in additional funding for the NHS, the public would trust Labor still more.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, president of the Royal College of GPs, said the survey showed a need for more GP recruitment.
“General practice is the bedrock of the NHS with GPs and our teams making the vast majority of NHS patient contact and in doing so relieving pressures elsewhere in the health service, including in A&E, but it must have adequate resources and personnel to fulfill this role. ,” she said.
“Right now, GPs and our teams are working under intense workloads and job pressures. We provide many more visits each month than before the pandemic, we see rising rates of flu, strep, and other winter illnesses, and the care we provide is more complex than ever; however, there are 737 fewer fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs working in the NHS as of 2019.
“This is unsustainable and unsafe for patients and staff, and when one part of the NHS is under pressure it affects the whole system.
“There are many reasons for the pressures faced by our colleagues working in emergency departments, for example a shortage of hospital beds, but we must be clear that the pressures are felt across the NHS, including in general practice.
“It is vital that this is recognized and addressed. That is why we have called on the Government for a bold new workforce plan to address recruitment and retention issues in general practice that goes beyond the 6,000 more GPs they promised us in their manifesto, and for action to be taken to reduce bureaucracy in general practice, which distances health care physicians from patients.”
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Saffron Cordery, acting chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Pressure is mounting across the healthcare system, from GP surgeries to mental health services and hospital A&E departments. GP services are the foundation of the NHS, helping people stay well and the gateway to specialist care for those who need it, but they are also extremely overburdened.”
Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper MP said the figures showed the “real horror” of the government’s handling of the health service.
“Years of underfunding and mismanagement of local health services have resulted in this crisis. The Conservative party can never be trusted again with the NHS,” said Ms Cooper.
“The time for action is now. The PM must declare a national critical incident and release all funds to discharge patients from hospitals under social care conditions. Instead, he is hiding behind his desk in Downing Street ”.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are enormously grateful for the hard work of the GP teams who have delivered 80,000 more general practice appointments every working day compared to last year. We plan to offer over a million more appointments this winter by reinforcing the GP teams with other professionals.
“We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan to help recruit and retain more staff and there are almost 2,300 more full-time equivalent doctors in general practice compared to September 2019. We have increased the number of GP training places available for 4,000 each year, up from 2,671 in 2014, and a record 4,032 GPs accepted a place in GP training this year.”
:: Redfield&Wilton sampled 1,500 eligible voters in Great Britain on the 4th and 5th of January.
