The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

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GPs
Lengthy waits to see GPs may pose serious risk
to patients, says top doctor
People with non-urgent conditions may be neglected amid long waiting times, leading to acute
problems, warns head of GPs’ body
A doctor’s waiting room. Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard says GPs are having to ‘firefight’ patients with
urgent health problems. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
Thousands of patients could be put at serious risk of life-threatening or life-changing health problems
as they wait several weeks to see family doctors, a leading GP has warned.
Surgeries have been struggling to keep waiting times down during the busy winter period, with some
patients waiting two or three weeks to see GPs for non-urgent matters, such as suspect lumps or
bleeding problems, the chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) said.
Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard said waiting times could rise to three or four weeks and such delays may
cause non-urgent conditions to become acute problems.
Life of a GP: ‘We are crumbling under the
pressures of workload’
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Stokes-Lampard raised particular concerns over the tens of thousands of people with chronic and
long-term health conditions, such as heart problems and diabetes, who may be neglected because GPs
had to “firefight” patients with urgent issues. The consequences for people with such conditions could
be “very serious indeed”, she added.