More than three million people had to wait over three weeks to see their GP last month, including more than 130,000 people in Greater Manchester. A total of 30.4 million GP appointments took place across the NHS in England in April, according to the latest data from the NHS.

Less than half of those (44.6%) took place on the same day of booking. A total of 3.2 million patients, however, had to wait over three weeks from the time they booked the appointment to it taking place.

That works out as more than one in every 10 appointments (10.6%) that took place in April. That’s up from 9.4% of appointments in March and 8.8% in February, but is below the record high of 13.4% in October.

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Almost one in 10 people in Greater Manchester had to wait over three weeks to see their GP last month. A total of 1.5 million GP appointments took place across the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board area in April, according to the latest data from the NHS.

Almost half of those (45.9%) took place within a week of being booked, while 71.6% took place within a week of booking. A total of 137,900 patients, however, had to wait over three weeks from the time they booked the appointment to it taking place.

Where you live has a huge impact on how long you have to wait to see a GP. Almost a fifth (19.6%) of appointments in Gloucestershire in April took place more than 21 days after booking. That’s the highest percentage in the country.

In Dorset the ratio was 17.8%, in Norfolk it was 17.6%, in Derby and Derbyshire it was 16.3%, and in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire it was 16.1%. By contrast, only 4.0% of GP appointments in north central London took place more than 21 days after booking.

In north east London the ratio was 4.6%, in north west London it was 5.1%, in south east London it was 6.0%, in south west London it was 6.0%, and in Coventry and Warwickshire it was 6.6%.

You can see the situation in your Integrated Care Board area here:

The majority of appointments in England (69.3%) took place within a week of being booked. Over 13.6 million of them (44.6%) took place on the same day.

You can check out how long it takes to see a GP at your local practice by using our interactive gadget:

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care, NHS England said: “Thanks to GPs and their hardworking teams, millions more appointments are being delivered every month compared to before the pandemic with plans in place to improve access even further. Every GP practice is upgrading their telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact their surgery, while patients can use the NHS app to order repeat prescriptions and view their test results without needing to contact their family doctor.

“We know there is more to do to make it easier for patients to access GP services and that’s why, building on the successes so far of the primary care access recovery plan, we continue to expand pharmacy services and offer patients more choice in how they access care.”