GP waiting times Sheffield: Lib-Dem councillors demand action after city ranked ‘worst’ in country

Sheffield Lib-Dem councillors are urging NHS Sheffield to work with the local GPs to make sure that vacancies within surgeries are filled so that these numbers can be brought down as soon as possible.

New figures have revealed that Sheffield has the highest number of delays in England for people trying to book an appointment with their GP, and Sheffield NHS Care Commissioning Group (CCG) came bottom of 25 local teams, with some patients facing long waits to see a doctor.

Out of 271,174 appointments made in Sheffield GP surgeries in December, 18,215 took place more than 28 days after the booking was made, which is a proportion of 6.7 per cent.

The figure was also a full percentage point higher than the next highest of 5.5 per cent seen in Derbyshire.

Sheffield Lib Dem Health spokesperson Councillor Steve Ayris said: “The city’s health care professionals have been working flat-out for two years now as we have been suffering with the worst consequences of this pandemic.

"These figures show how strained the system has become in Sheffield and that something must be done to rectify this issue as soon as possible.

“We all know our doctors are working hard, but we simply need more of them in our local area. To bring these numbers down, we need to see more GPs filling gaps at our existing local surgeries and see more centres opened as soon as possible.”

Sheffield Lib Dem leader Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed added: “Our GPs are our first point of call for healthcare and can often treat conditions before they get worse, and we end up in hospital. Having enough of them in our city is therefore crucial for the health of our city now and into the future.”

“We are calling on the City Council to make sure new GPs’ surgeries are put into developments whenever possible and feasible. And on NHS Sheffield to work with surgeries to make sure that vacancies within surgeries are filled so that these numbers can be brought down as soon as possible.”

“We are very lucky to have the NHS and Universal healthcare in the UK and we want to work with others across the board to make sure it is as accessible as possible for all local residents.”