New figures reveal long GP waits in Hampshire

There were 677,546 waits of a month or longer for a GP appointment in Hampshire last year as Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, Danny Chambers has called for patients to be given a legal right to see their GP within a week, or 24-hours if in urgent need.

This data measures the time between booking an appointment and it taking place.

The research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, revealed a sharp spike in the number of waits of more than a month in Hampshire. In 2023 the figure stood at just over 500,000 but jumped by 28% to more than 677,000 last year.

Waits of two weeks or longer were also staggeringly high. There were 2,157,900 waits of two weeks or longer in 2024, up from 1,845,132 the previous year, a rise of 17%. Waits of two weeks or longer accounted for 20.7% of all waits in Hampshire in 2024.

Previous analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research has found that one in eight of those who could not get a GP appointment went to A&E instead. This places more pressure on emergency care, which has seen record long 12-hour A&E waits. Analysis of long A&E waits has suggested that they could have been responsible for 50,000 deaths last year.

Danny Chambers, Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, said that the figures laid bare how badly the Conservatives had broken local health services and criticised the Labour government for their “inexcusable” lack of urgency in fixing this crisis.

Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester, Danny Chambers, said:

“Our community here in Winchester has felt first hand how badly the Conservatives have neglected our health services.

"We needed change, but the increase in waits for hospital appointments shows that now, the Labour government is lacking the urgency we need to fix the NHS.

"People shouldn’t have to wait in pain to receive healthcare. We’re calling for a legal right to see a GP within seven days, and a minimum wait of twenty four hours if needing urgent medical help. 

"Liberal Democrats want to see this government show more ambition and ensure patients are receiving the care they deserve.”