Islanders face an average waiting time of 7.4 days to see their GP, down one day from last year.
Health Minister Claire Christian took questions on waiting times and the impact on Noble’s Emergency Department in Keys this morning.
The minister confirmed the 7.4-day average is the time between booking and attending an appointment, down from 8.4 days in September 2024.
She revealed that 70% of appointments in September were delivered within seven days.
Wait
Responding to Jason Moorhouse’s initial question, Ms Christian said that if patients “were unable to access care from a GP in a timely way, there is potential for them to present at ED with conditions that could have been managed in a primary care setting”.
However, she added that ED wait times are primarily driven by “hospital bed activity in patient discharge, delays staffing and demand growth”.
Rob Callister challenged the figures, citing constituent feedback, stating they are “told there’s none available for at least two or three weeks”.
Ms Christian clarified the data measures from the point of booking, acknowledging the “frustration about actually getting the appointment beforehand that probably extends that time”.,
To improve access, a virtual GP pilot in the north created an additional 484 appointments in September.
Ms Christian said the pilot will be assessed “to see how successful it is, with the thought that if it does get rolled out” and gave a commitment to update members.