THOUSANDS of Herefordshire patients are facing waits of over a month for GP appointments, a report has revealed.

Digital health company Medicspot said 22 per cent of people in Herefordshire are waiting longer than two weeks to be seen, while thousands wait over a month.

Recent NHS figures suggest that 69 per cent of residents in the county were not offered a choice of time or date for their appointment, and six in ten did not get a same-day appointment with a GP.

And 31 per cent of people in Herefordshire find it difficult to get through to their practice by phone. This comes as the county gears up for the December 12 general election, with the NHS at the centre of the major parties' election campaigns.

The company uses technology which allows doctors to listen to a patient’s heart and lungs, look into their ears and throat, and take their vitals including blood pressure, oxygen levels and body temperature without needing to be in the same room.

Medicspot is already available in over 250 pharmacies across the UK, with patients paying £39 for a same-day GP consultation, and plans to bring the service to pharmacies across Hereford early next year.

Dr Zubair Ahmed, co-founder of Medicspot, said: “In light of these figures, we hope our service will offer a convenient alternative for people in Hereford and help ease some of the pressures the NHS is facing.

“Longer wait times lead to more strain on an already struggling NHS. When patients are forced to wait weeks to see a GP, they often end up waiting for hours at A&E”, Dr Ahmed said.

A national survey of patients who have used the new service revealed 40 per cent of respondents would have gone to accident and emergency if they didn’t use Medicspot, generating a £1.2 million saving for the NHS.

Click here to view the full report.