'All patients should be able see their GP within seven days' in Harrogate says Lib Dem candidate after damning new data

Tom Gordon’s comments follow House of Commons Library research commissioned by the national Liberal Democrat Party which revealed North Yorkshire saw a 56% rise in four week waits for GP appointments last year compared to 2022.

In total, according to the Lib Dems, four-week waits for a GP appointment in North Yorkshire reached 222,398 last year.

Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Harrogate & Knaresborough Tom Gordon said: “Far too many people across North Yorkshire are struggling to get a GP appointment.

"It is causing people huge anxiety because they can't be confident any more of getting the care they need.

“It shows our community has been abandoned by the Government when it comes to local health services.

“Being able to see a GP should not be too much to ask but, even on this measure, people are being failed after years of neglect by the Government.

“That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a legal right for all patients to see their GP within seven days or 24-hours if in urgent need.”

The NHS data measures the time between when the appointment was booked and when it took place.

It showed that the number of appointments where patients waited at least in North Yorkshire rose by 33% to 671,292 in 2023, up from 505,768 the previous year.