90% of patients see a GP within 48 hours

Published on Tuesday 19 May 2009 22:07

NINE out of ten patients in Scotland are able to see their GP within two days of asking for an appointment, a survey of 270,000 patients has revealed.

The poll found 90 per cent of patients were able to see a health worker within 48 hours, while 75 per cent said they were able to book an appointment three or more days in advance.

Some surgeries have stopped such advanced bookings to help meet the 48-hour target, telling patients instead to phone up on the day they want to come in.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the results showed the "excellent job" most GP surgeries were doing for their patients, but the British Medical Association said individual practices could lose out on funding because of "extremely small" samples of surveys returned in some areas. The findings are linked to funding arrangements.