UK general practice has been shown to perform well on access and speed of getting an appointment, in a large survey across 10 high-income countries.
A report from the Health Foundation found that 97% of respondents in the UK said they had regular access to a GP with only the Netherlands scoring higher.
On getting an appointment on the same day or next day, 42% of the more than 3,000 UK patients surveyed said this was their experience with only the Netherlands and Germany higher at 50% and 49% respectively.
But the analysis of the 2023 Commonwealth Fund survey on experience of healthcare from 21,000 patients across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and the UK highlighted a myriad of other ways in which the NHS is performing worse.
UK patients had the second-worst experience of being able to access healthcare other than A&E during evenings and weekends and a high proportion reported their GP did not always spend enough time with them in an appointment.
This has declined rapidly over time, with 85% reporting their GP spent enough time with them in an appointment in 2013 compared with 58% in 2023.
The Health Foundation report also noted the UK’s performance on hospital care is consistently near the bottom of the countries surveyed with long waits for specialist care a particular concern.
It found 11% of people in the UK were waiting a year or more for a specialist appointment and 19% were waiting a year or more for non-emergency surgery. Only Canada was comparable.
The UK also performed poorly on care coordination between GPs and specialists, the report said.
Access to care based on cost is also becoming more of an issue in the UK over time, with a quarter (26%) now skipping dental care. Though this figure ranked among the average for dental care cost barriers across the countries surveyed.
While NHS care is free, the proportion of people who did not visit or consult with a doctor for cost reasons has grown from 2% to 7% in 2023, which is a concerning trend, the report said.
Health Foundation’s assistant director of policy Ruth Thorlby said the report sheds more light on just how much work the government has to do to get the NHS back on its feet.
‘The combined effect of the pandemic and below average spending growth has left the NHS in a fragile state. The Government is right to prioritise bringing down waiting lists, but that can only be done with a concerted effort to improve primary care and ensuring good coordination between hospitals and GPs.’
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
Key findings from Commonwealth Fund survey
Access to a regular GP or GP practice
- Netherlands 99%
- UK 97%
- Canada 86%
Getting an appointment on the same or next day
- Netherlands 50%
- UK 42%
- Canada 24%
Very or somewhat easy to get medical care other than A&E on evenings or weekends
- US 38%
- UK 16%
- Sweden 10%
Does your GP spend enough time with you in an appointment
- Most countries ~ 80%
- Sweden 60%
- UK 58%
GP practice always or often helps to coordinate care you receive from other places
- Sweden 28%
- UK 50%
- Canada 69%
Waiting a year or more for a specialist appointment in past two years
- Netherlands 1%
- Canada 9%
- UK 11%
Source: Commonwealth Fund
