Lib Dems announce five year plan to give patients in Wokingham a right to see a GP within a week.

Lib Dems announce five year plan to give patients in Wokingham a right to see a GP within a week.

A five year plan to give patients a right to see their GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need, will be in the Liberal Democrat General Election manifesto the party has today announced.

Last year 546,182 appointments in Berkshire West, which includes Wokingham, took longer than two weeks to happen. Under the Liberal Democrats plans every single patient will have the right to see their GP in seven days.

Clive Jones, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Wokingham, has said that this Conservative government has “abandoned local health services” and called for a “fair deal for Wokingham’s patients”.

The Liberal Democrats have today (24th May) announced that their five-year plan to give patients a legal right to see a GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need, will be in their General Election manifesto.

Last year there were 546,182 appointments that took over two weeks in Berkshire West, equating to 18.6% of appointments. This included a staggering 131,389 which took longer than a month, 4.5% of all appointments.

The Liberal Democrats have said that under their plans, patients will no longer be left waiting for an appointment and risk their conditions getting worse.

The party will deliver the plan by:

● Increasing the number of full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000, half by boosting recruitment and half from retaining more experienced GPs.

● Freeing up GPs’ time by giving more prescribing rights and public health advisory services to qualified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and paramedics.

● Introducing a universal 24/7 GP booking system.

● Removing top-down bureaucracy to let practices hire the staff they need and invest in training.

Clive Jones, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Wokingham, said:

“This Conservative government has driven our area’s local health services into the ground. Too many patients in Wokingham are facing agonisingly long waits, often in terrible pain whilst waiting to see their GP.

“The Conservative party have proven themselves totally unfit to run our NHS. They have abandoned local health services and it is patients bearing the brunt of their neglect.

“It should not be too much to ask for patients to be able to see their GP when they need to. That is why the Liberal Democrats have committed to a fair deal for Wokingham’s patients and legal right to see a GP within a week.”