Councillor for Compton concerned for local residents as GP waits of over two weeks reach record high in England

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor for Compton, Dylan Tippetts, has called for an “emergency package” to save the family doctor. 

It comes after new research revealed that, since January, 367,888 appointments in Devon have had waits of over 28 days, up from 180,588 at the same point five years ago, an increase of 104%.

Local waits of over two weeks have increased from 575,412 in 2020 to 1,201,182 this year, an increase of 109%.

Dylan Tippetts, the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Compton, has called for an emergency package to end the crisis, and for the Government to deliver a new right to a GP appointment within seven days, or 24 hours if urgent, by recruiting thousands of extra doctors. The emergency measures would include a strategic fund to reopen surgeries, dedicated local initiatives to ensure nowhere becomes a “GP desert”, and the introduction of a 24/7 GP booking system to end the “8am scramble”, with 111 call handlers trained to become GP receptionists. 

The House Of Commons Library research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found that nationally, since Labour have been in power, patients have seen the highest number of two week and four week waits to see a GP since 2020. It follows previous record numbers of two and four week waits under the last Conservative government.

The data also found that there has been a 50% increase in patients waiting over 14 days for a GP appointment since the same period in 2020 across England, rising from 19.7 million appointments that took this long to 43 million appointments. There has been a 67% increase for those waiting over 28 days, from 5.8 million five years ago to 12.9 million today.

Cllr Tippetts said, I hear all the time from my residents they are having massive challenges trying to get a GP appointment. This isn't acceptable. The Government must act quickly to save our family doctors so my residents can see a GP when they need to

 

Source:  NHS Digital, Appointments in General Practice August 2025

Times reporting can be found here.

Royal College of GPs survey can be found here.