New data from the NHS has shown that more people are waiting a month for a GP appointment than at any time since when records began in 2017.

The new figures show that a shocking 1616 people in Feltham and Heston faced a wait of 28 days or more to see a GP in October alone. A further 9219 people had to wait more than two weeks.

The findings came as MPs voted in parliament on a motion from the Labour Party to abolish the 200-year-old non-dom tax status, which allows some wealthy people who live in Britain to pay their taxes overseas and costs the taxpayer £3.2bn a year.

Labour has called for some of the funds saved to be used to pay for training of new NHS staff, in order to double the number of medical school places, to train 15,000 new doctors a year; train 10,000 additional nurses and midwives every year; double the number of district nurses qualifying each year and train 5,000 new health visitors.

This would have helped improve access to our local NHS services in Feltham and Heston, but the Government abstained on the vote.

I’m calling on the Government to back Labour’s plan, which would see patients guaranteed a face-to-face appointment with a GP if they want one. One in seven people who try to speak to a nurse or GP were unable to get an appointment at all last year. This has got to change.

You can read my full response in the Hounslow Herald here: Over 1600 patients waiting a month to see GP in Feltham & Heston (hounslowherald.com)