GP waiting times: the areas of England where you are most likely to wait 4 weeks for a doctor’s appointment
One in 15 patients waited four weeks for a GP appointment in one part of the country last December.
More than three-quarters of a million people in England waited more than four weeks to see a GP after making an appointment in December last year.
There were a total of 25,077,056 GP appointments in England in December 2021, with 784,541 of these (3.1%) taking place more than four weeks after the appointment was made.
This was similar to the month prior to this, with 3.2% of GP appointments in November taking place more than 28 days after a booking was made, and lower than before the pandemic.
Some areas of England in particular had a higher proportion of patients who waited more than four weeks for an appointment when booking it.
NHS England data showed that some parts of the country had a proportion of 6.7% (one in 15) of people waiting more than a month for an appointment, with other areas only having 1.4% of patients waiting that long to see a GP.
However, there may be a number of reasons why some people might wait a month to see a GP, including booking a follow up appointment.
These are the 25 Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) areas in England where the highest proportion of patients had to wait more than 28 days for an appointment in December.
1. Sheffield
Out of 271,174 appointments in December 2021, 18,215 took place more than 28 days after the booking was made, which is a proportion of 6.7%.
2. Derby and Derbyshire
Out of 496,320 appointments in December 2021, 27,235 took place more than 28 days after the booking was made, which is a proportion of 5.5%.
3. East Riding of Yorkshire
Out of 129,149 appointments in December 2021, 6,752 took place more than 28 days after the booking was made, which is a proportion of 5.2%.
4. Barnsley
Out of 108,855 appointments in December 2021, 5,352 took place more than 28 days after the booking was made, which is a proportion of 4.9%.