Drastic 73% increase 14-day GP waits across Oldham Borough revealed

Shocking new research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed a drastic 73% increase in the number of patients in Oldham waiting 14 days or more to see a GP compared with 5 years ago. 

The House of Commons Library research shows that since January, 150,042 appointments have had wait times of 14 days or more, up from 86,843 in 2020.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes said, “It’s become increasingly difficult to get seen by your GP and that is having knock on effects elsewhere in the healthcare system.  It means more people going untreated, getting more unwell while they wait and then unfortunately ending up in our already overburdened hospitals.

“People deserve better than a mad dash to the phone at 8am, with all the appointments for the day being taken within a few minutes.  This is not good enough.”

Across England, the number of 14-day waits is up by 50%, meaning that Oldham’s GP waiting crisis is well above the average.

Councillor Sykes said, “The Liberal Democrats have called for an emergency package to save our GP services: with a dedicated fund to reopen closed surgeries, a 24/7 booking system via 111 and a recruitment and retention drive to secure thousands of extra family doctors.”