Waiting times to see GPs have doubled in five years

Patients are waiting twice as long as they did five years ago to see their GPs, says the the National Association of General Practitioners.

In a survey of 600 of its members, the NAGP found that the waiting time for a patient seeking a routine appointment was just under 10 hours in 2010.

In its latest research, earlier this month, it found that the average is now a day and 10 hours, meaning instead of a next-day appointment, most patients who call their local surgery now need to wait two days.