MORE than one in 20 people in West Yorkshire could not contact their GP when they tried to book an appointment or speak to a receptionist, according to a major new poll of patients across England.

According to the NHS England and Office for National Statistics survey, 6.8 per cent of people registered to a GP surgery in the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area were unable to contact their doctor, receptionist or another clinician at their registered practice the last time they tried.

A further 7.4 per cent were able to get in touch with their GP, but it took at least two days.

Nationally, 11.9 per cent of patients had to wait at least two days to contact their practice.

The survey also showed 63.7 per cent of patients across the country said their experience of their GP practice was "good or very good".

In West Yorkshire, this fell to 62.5 per cent, while a further 21 per cent said their experience was poor or very poor.

Dr Margaret Ikpoh, vice chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "We know how much our patients value the care that GPs and our teams offer, and we share their frustrations when they struggle to access it when they need to."

Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of the British Medical Association's general practice committee for England, said it is unsurprising patients are unable to get a timely appointment due to a lack of adequate funding and resources.

"We all want the same thing: GPs want to be able to see their patients, and patients want to be able to see their GP," he added.

In West Yorkshire, 11.4 per cent of patients said they were waiting for at least 12 months for a hospital appointment or test, or to begin medical treatment with the NHS.

An NHS England spokesperson said: "The official published statistics on NHS waiting lists actually show 6.3 million patients were on NHS waiting lists as of the end of January and only 4.2 per cent of waits were over a year.

"Work is ongoing to reduce the longest waits for patients but despite pressures and industrial action, hard-working NHS staff ensured the Covid backlog has fallen for four months in a row and 18-month waits are down almost 90 per cent on their peak.

"In terms of GP care, almost two-thirds of people are happy with their experience, and millions more are being given appointments compared to before the pandemic."