US Edition
Seeing a GP quickly is easier in Rwanda than Britain, according to a new study.
An international analysis of healthcare, including access to GPs, found that Britain is the third-worst place in the world for quick access to a family doctor.
Just 35 per cent of Britons were able to see a GP within 24 hours, compared to a global average of 67 per cent.
People in Rwanda had an 87 per cent chance of seeing their doctor within the day, which was the second-best rate anywhere.
Similarly, while almost one in five Brits have waited more than a week for a GP appointment, the study found just 3 per cent of Rwandans had to wait longer than seven days.
Only France and Canada ranked worse than Britain and came behind the UK on both metrics in the Economist Impact global health inclusivity index.
In Canada just 31 per cent of patients saw a GP within 24 hours, while 23 per cent waited longer than a week. In France it was 34 and 18 per cent respectively.
It means 37 of the 40 countries analysed have quicker access to GPs than Brits do, including the US, Japan, Germany, Australia and Russia.
The index, which looked at countries of all economic statuses and from every continent, found that Turkey was the country where most people were seen within 24 hours, at 88 per cent.
GPs in war-torn Ukraine were also seeing patients quicker with just two per cent waiting longer than a week, and 72 per cent seen within the day, double the number seen in the UK.
The global average was two-thirds of patients seen within 24 hours, while seven per cent waited longer than a week.
Dennis Reed, director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, said it was “a national scandal” for the NHS.
“The NHS used to be the undisputed world champion among national health services, sadly that is no longer the case,” he said.
“Lack of access to GPs is becoming a national scandal and as primary care is the building block for the rest of the NHS, it is putting the whole system under severe strain. Patients know the real state of the NHS, politicians need to wise up to the extent of the malaise.”
UK healthcare faces ‘significant barriers’
The NHS ranked third in the world overall for its health inclusivity, falling from first, according to the report, which had 42,000 participants and was supported by consumer health company Haleon.
The overall rankings were based on a variety of factors including equity of access, health literacy, and health policies.
However despite having “widely available” healthcare it found access in the UK had “significant barriers”.
It said the challenges in accessing a GP were “mirrored” across the health service, with less than a quarter able to see a dentist or access sexual health services within 24 hours compared with a global average of 56 and 51 per cent respectively.
It found that Britain significantly lagged behind counterparts in Australia and Sweden, which came first and second overall, in its use of virtual and telephone services.
Jonathan Birdwell, global head of policy and insights at Economist Impact, said: “Measuring a country’s ability to provide quality healthcare involves evaluating its policy but also its population’s ability to use their healthcare services.
“The results of this phase of the Index show that high-income countries still have a lot of improvements to make if they are to effectively turn their policy into action.”
Patient frustration a result of ‘years of underfunding’
Prof Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said they “share patients’ frustration” at waits to access services.
“This is the result of years of underfunding in general practice, where the vast majority of NHS patient care happens, and poor workforce planning, meaning that we’re increasingly delivering more care with less,” she said.
Prof Hawthorne added that as well as providing quick care, it was vital to provide “continuity of care” which was also “increasingly challenging to deliver”.
She said: “Our manifesto outlines seven solutions – including resources to support patients in deprived communities – that will help improve patient access to safe and timely care and ensure that there are enough GPs and other primary care professionals to safeguard the future of general practice and the wider NHS.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “It is vital that the public can access primary care services when needed and we are making it easier for patients to see and contact their GP, with 29 more appointments in every GP practice, per working day, compared to 2019.
“To help beat the 8am rush, we are investing £240 million to support practices embrace the latest technology, and through measures such as this the Government has delivered more than 2,000 additional doctors and 31,000 extra staff than in 2019.
“We are also making progress to boost NHS dental services – compared to the previous year, 1.7 million more adults and 800,000 more children are receiving NHS dental care in England.”
NHS England was approached for comment.