One in six patients in Hounslow are forced to wait more than a week to see a GP

A sixth of patients in Hounslow waited at least a week to see a GP the last time they tried, an official NHS survey has found. 16% of local patients – over 41 thousand people - faced a wait of at least seven days to book an appointment in the last year, more than the national average of 13%

Many people have told me they have had to wait up to three weeks to get an appointment to see their GP. Within days of the last election, David Cameron scrapped Labour's appointments guarantee and now thousands of people here are waiting over a week. We need significantly more funding to address this figure.

That's why I welcome Labour’s pledge to invest £100 million nationally in GPs which will guarantee appointments within 48 hours or on the same day for those who need it. The funding will come from the money saved by scrapping David Cameron's NHS market rules which are wasting millions on lawyers fees and contract tendering.

The annual NHS England survey, released earlier this month, also revealed that local patients struggle to see the family doctor of their choosing. 44% of patients locally who have a preferred GP had to see another doctor when they last went to their surgery. The next Labour Government will also give patients the right to book ahead with the GP they prefer to see.

The figures come from "GP survey statistics - NHS England CCG Report (July 2014)": http://gp-survey-production.s3.amazonaws.com/archive/2014/July/weighted…