Councillor John Wilmott slams the difficulty of getting an appointment to see a GP in Hucknall

A County Councillor has described it as "…currently impossible to get a doctor's appointment in Hucknall."

Councillor John Wilmott who represents Hucknall North made the remarks at a meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council's Health Committee. He was speaking to health bosses from the Clinical Commissioning Group, a group of GPs and health professionals responsible for local health services.

Councillor Wilmott spoke especially about issues relating to Hucknall including poor access to GPs compared to other parts of the County. He further claimed that waiting times for an appointment were unacceptable and called for an urgent meeting with health bosses to move plans for a new 'super' health centre in Hucknall forward.

He said: "Health inequalities exist in this County and we want to know what your plan is to deal with this. I speak explicitly about the healthcare crisis in Hucknall where residents tell me it is impossible to get a doctor's appointment. We have a healthcare crisis in Hucknall – we have a town of 42,000 residents which is growing by the week and we have only have two major GP surgeries – those being Torkard and Whyburn Medical Practices.

"Residents tell me getting access to face-to-face appointments is almost impossible. Improving access to GP provision in Hucknall is a huge priority for us. Will the CCG commit to holding an urgent meeting with Hucknall's County Councillors to discuss the specifics of plans to improve access to doctors in Hucknall?"

Hucknall's councillors have requested an urgent meeting with the Chief Commissioning Officer for the CCG Lucy Dadge to discuss how they are progressing plans for a new 'Cavell – Super Health Centre' in Hucknall. Ashfield District Council has already raised £1,000,000 towards the project – for something Councillor Wilmott has said is "…critical for our growing town."

At the meeting, it was revealed that 26,906 residents in Nottinghamshire had to wait more than 28 days for a GP appointment. It was also revealed that nearly 4 out of every 10 residents who 'saw' a GP did so via phone or online. It led to one councillor calling the role of a doctor as '…increasingly remote.'

Councillor David Martin, spokesperson for the Independent Group at County Hall said, "There are huge issues with doctors across Ashfield – significantly in places like Hucknall and the Selston Parish. People used to say they never see a police officer on patrol – now it appears many don't see their doctors either. Doctors are becoming increasingly remote and that is not good for healthcare across our District or County. Residents are waiting longer for appointments than ever before and now it seems a significant amount of residents don't see them at all. We have got to stop blaming COVID for poor access to health care."