Half of patients 'unhappy with their GP'

Almost half of people who have visited their local GP surgery in the past two years are unhappy with the level of care they received.

This is according to a new report from the Patients Association, which said local care is in "desperate need of review".

It found that two-thirds of respondents do not believe their out-of-hours GP is safe and that three in five were unable to see a doctor despite calling for a consultation.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association said: "Public confidence in out-of-hours services is worryingly low and that is not always as easy as it should be to get an appointment with a GP."

Some 60 per cent of people who called their GPs surgery for an appointment were made to wait two days, while 1o per cent waited for more than two weeks.

On top of this, 57 per cent said they had difficulty getting through to anyone on the phone to even try booking a consultation.

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