Patients were unable to book GP appointments up to five million times in October

PATIENTS were unable to book GP appointments up to five million times last month, according to an analysis.

The Labour Party said one in seven phone calls cannot get a consultation with a doctor.

With almost 32million appointments in October, it suggests as many as 5.2m calls did not get a slot.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Patients are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment when they need one.

“I’m really worried that among those patients unable to get an appointment, there could be serious conditions going undiagnosed until it’s too late.”

The NHS Patient Survey this year found 13.8 per cent of people were not offered or refused a GP appointment last time they phoned for one.

The top reasons were that there were no suitable times available or practices were not taking advance bookings.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and their teams are working flat out to deliver the care and services our patients need.

“We delivered a record 36.1 million consultations in October, almost 40 per cent of these on the day they were booked, more than 80 per cent within two weeks and more than 71 per cent in person.

“Accessing our services isn’t the fault of GP teams, it’s a consequence of an underfunded and understaffed service working under unsustainable pressures.”