Kent and Medway GP appointments up 250k in a year

GP's in Kent and Medway delivered more than a quarter of a million extra appointments last year.

From December 2023 until November 2024, over 11 million appointments were held by local GP practices, according to figures released by NHS England.

It represents an increase in over 255,000 to the previous year, and 938,000 appointments on 2022-23.

Dr Gaurav Gupta, a local GP and chairman of the Kent Local Medical Committee, said: "General practice is working as the 'sponge', absorbing much of the additional NHS demand with ever-diminishing resources."

The figures are being presented at the Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee of Kent County Council on Tuesday.

The data also show that around two-thirds of GP appointments in Kent and Medway were face-to-face or home visits.

Despite the increase in the number of appointments the data reveals that in November 2024 the number of full time GP's was 946, compared to 939 a year earlier.

Dr Gupta, a partner at Faversham Medical Practice, said: "General practice is doing more than ever before with fewer resources.

"In Kent and Medway, general practice is providing close to one million appointments every month - equivalent to seeing the entire population six times a year."

NHS Kent and Medway recently launched a new five-year primary care strategy to focus on "access, proactive care, and prevention".

It said the strategy was developed to "cope with population growth, demand outstripping supply, disease prevalence, an aging population and the public's preference for rapid access".