3138 Patients waiting a month for a GP appointment across Dagenham and Rainham.

New data from the NHS has shown that more people are waiting a month for a GP appointment than at any time since when records began in 2017. 3,138 people in Dagenham and Rainham faced a wait of 28 days or more to see a GP in October alone. A further 8,644 people had to wait more than two weeks.  

Almost two million people in England had to wait more than 28 days in October, while a further 4.3 million had to wait more than two weeks.  At the same time, the number of GPs has fallen to a record low, leaving patients in a desperate scramble to be seen. Since 2013, 4,600 GPs have been cut. 

Margaret Mullane, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Dagenham and Rainham told the Havering Daily: “Local people across Dagenham and Rainham are finding it impossible to see a GP when they need to, with thousands waiting more than a month or not getting an appointment at all. We are told that poor health outcomes are inevitable in areas like ours, but it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The Labour Party are proposing to abolish the non-dom tax status, which allows some wealthy people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas, to pay for training a new generation of NHS staff. Labour’s plan would:

• Double the number of medical school places, training 15,000 new doctors a year• Train 10,000 additional nurses and midwives every year• Double the number of district nurses qualifying each year• Train 5,000 new health visitors

Labour is also pledging to bring back the family doctor, so patients can see the same GP each appointment if they choose to. Under Labour’s plans, GP practices will be provided with incentives to offer patients continuity of care, so doctors must take into account patients’ preferences.

Margaret added: “12 years of Conservative failure to train the staff our NHS needs has left it with thousands fewer GPs, and Dagenham and Rainham is paying the price. Meanwhile the Conservatives are protecting the non-dom tax status, allowing people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas. We need doctors and nurses, not non-doms.

“Patients in Dagenham and Rainham should be able to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose, when they need to. As part of a Labour government, I will put patients first and get them seen on time again.”