Vince Cable

Vincent Cable MP has raised with local doctors and the Primary Care Trust the difficulties which many residents are having making appointments. Residents are told to book on the day that they need treatment but are often serious problems securing bookings in advance - which can be very frustrating for those, like teachers, who have to plan their lives and for those with continuing care, needing regular planned appointments.

Vincent Cable said: "Patients', hitherto good, relations with their GPs are being unnecessarily disrupted by confusing and bureaucratic booking arrangements. It started with the Government imposing an arbitrary 48 hour limit on waiting times for appointments. Some GPs then retaliated by not taking any bookings over 48 hours in advance. The outcome is a mess."

Vincent Cable praised some local GPs, like the Hampton Hill Medical Centre, which have tried to find a compromise solution, allowing bookings up to 7 days in advance: "It is, however, an extraordinary situation, which reflects badly on the Government's management of the NHS, that access to GP care has deteriorated as a result of efforts to improve it! And in a context where GPs are being well rewarded for their services."