• New research reveals four week waits for GPs three times higher in rural areas than urban ones

• Lib Dems to adopt pre-manifesto with right to see a GP within a week at its heart

• Ed Davey calls for strategy to close urban rural divide in access to GPs

The proportion of people waiting four weeks or more for a GP appointment is three times higher in rural parts of England than in London, stark new figures published by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

It comes as Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey calls on the government to launch a new strategy to improve access to GPs in rural areas. The Liberal Democrats are also set to put their proposals to give everyone the right to see a GP within a week at the heart of their pre-manifesto being adopted today.

The House of Commons Library research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, shows that on average people in rural areas are facing significantly longer waits for GP appointments than those in urban ones.

One in five (20.6%) patients living in rural areas waited two weeks or more for a GP appointment between April and June of this year, compared to 16.9% of those in urban areas.

The divide for waits of four weeks or more for a GP appointment was even more stark. 6% of patients in rural areas faced waits of 28 days or more for a GP appointment, around a third higher than the 4.6% of those facing four-week waits in urban ones.

The figures also show a damning regional divide, with rural communities in the East Midlands and South West facing the worst GP waits in the country. 6.6% of patients in rural parts of the South West waited 28 days or more for a GP appointment, over three times higher than the 2.1% of patients in London.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to bring in a new strategy to close the gap in access to primary healthcare between urban and rural areas. This would build on the party’s commitment to give all patients a right to see a GP within a week, or within 24 hours if in urgent need. This would be achieved by increasing the number of GPs by 8,000.

The right to see a GP within a week would be enshrined into the NHS constitution, putting a duty on both the health service and government to ensure it happens.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Millions of people across the country are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one, leaving them waiting in pain and distress. GPs should be the front door to the NHS, but that door has been slammed shut in people’s faces after years of Conservative broken promises and neglect.

Far too many people are being left without the rapid care and treatment they need, piling more pressure onto our hospitals and other NHS services. Our rural communities are being particularly badly impacted by these painfully long GP waits, showing again how the Conservatives are taking them for granted.

The Liberal Democrats will tackle this crisis by giving everyone the right to see a GP within a week, or 24 hours if it’s urgent. We will narrow the divide between rural and urban areas, ensuring everyone can see a GP when they need to and get the care they deserve.