THOUSANDS of patients are waiting days for GP appointments in north Essex, as the NHS reveals less than half of appointments take place within 24 hours.
NHS Digital has published data from GP surgeries across the country based on appointments seen in July.
Across Colchester and Tendring, 172,700 appointments were seen in July.
More than 78,000 of these took place within 24 hours of patients contacting their GP surgery, including almost 67,000 on the same day.
But a whopping 54 per cent of appointments took place after at least two days, including 9,443 which were booked more than 28 days in advance.
The data revealed a huge disparity between practices where patients are waiting more than four weeks to be seen.
At East Hill Surgery, in East Hill, Colchester, none of its 4,062 appointments in July were booked more than 28 days in advance.
With 4,983 appointments, Caradoc Surgery, in Station Approach, Frinton, saw a similar number of patients, but 820 of these appointments took more than four weeks to take place.
Guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care in May said GP surgeries should offer non-urgent appointments within two weeks, or otherwise refer patients to call NHS 111 or visit a pharmacy.
The latest data comes after the Gazette revealed patients didn’t show up to 1,794 appointments at Mill Road Surgery, in Mill Road, Colchester, in the 12 months to July.
Speaking at the time practice manager Matt Carter estimated no-shows resulted in a loss of at least 300 hours of clinical time for the surgery each year.
“That’s assuming they’re 10-minute appointments," he said.
"But a lot of those could be appointments which take a lot longer. That minimum 300 hours is perhaps more like 400 hours of clinical time lost.”
A spokesman for the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, which arranges healthcare provisions in the area, said: “Despite the many pressures facing local GP practices the standard of healthcare provided remains high and we remain grateful to the hardworking staff for all they are doing.
"They will continue to best support patients to live happy and healthy lives.”
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