GPs in Milton Keynes: Figures reveal surgeries with the longest waits for appointments

Patients at some doctor’s surgeries in Milton Keynes are waiting far longer for appointments than at others, NHS figures show.

The data shows how many patients had to wait more than four weeks for an appointment at their local practice in October, revealing the strain many surgeries are under.

Across England, nearly half of appointments in October (49%) took place on the day they were booked, analysis of the NHS Digital data found.

However, 640,000 appointments - 3% of the total - took place more than 28 days later. This didn’t include appointments which are usually booked in advance, such as medication reviews.

And in some surgeries, the proportion of patients waiting more than four weeks was far higher.

In Milton Keynes more than a quarter of all appointments at Westcroft Health Centre, 27.9%, had to wait more than 28 days or an appointment; at Cobbs Garden Surgery, it was 20.3% and at Whitehouse Health Centre, it was 20.2%.

At Central MK Medical centre it was 13.5%, Parkside Medical Centre, 12.8%, Asplands Medical Centre 9.1%, Newport Pagnell Medical Centre 7.7%, MK Village Surgery 7.6%,Oakridge Park Medical Centre 7.4%, Stony Medical Centre, 6%, Red House Surgery, 5.7%, Walnut Tree Surgery 5.6% and Bedford Street surgery 3.5%. Of the remainder, see list below, fewer than 3% of all appointments had to wait more than 28 days for an appointment.

There are several factors that influence the length of time a patient has to wait for an appointment, including availability at the practice, patient availability and the urgency of the issue.

The British Medical Association, the trade union for doctors, said the monthly figures were the “highest level of GP appointments on record”.

The following GP practices in the Milton Keynes show number of appointments which are not usually booked in advance, though the data does not reflect the total number of patients at each practice. Practices which had fewer than 100 appointments in October have been omitted.

Westcroft Health Centre: 208

Cobbs Garden Surgery: 1563

Whitehouse Health Centre: 970

Central MK Medical Centre 4348

Parkside Medical Centre: 4195

Asplands Medical Centre: 6103

Newport Pagnell Medical Centre: 6729

MK Village Surgery: 3683

Oakridge Park Medical Centre: 2257

Stony Medical Centre: 5819

Red House Surgery: 3184

Walnut Tree: 1450

Bedford Street Surgery: 3184

Wolverton Health Centre: 2194

Heath Hill Health Centre: 1393

Stonedean Practice: 2927

Westfield Road Surgery: 1514

Watling Vale Medical Centre: 1698

Whaddon Healthcare: 7055

Fishermead Medical Centre: 1380

Hilltops Health Centre: 4178

Ashfield Medical Centre: 2765

Kingfisher Surgery: 1098

The Grove Surgery: 735

Sovereign Medical Centre: 4483

Purbeck Health Centre: 2333.

The pandemic is cited as the main cause for increased GP waiting times. GP Practices shifted to online booking systems and phone consultations, some of them almost overnight. For older, poorer and less technologically savvy patients, this presented a barrier to accessing medical advice as many have lacked the knowledge or resources to navigate the process.