PEOPLE in Cornwall are experiencing a wide variation in accessing a routine appointment with a doctor according to the latest findings from Healthwatch Cornwall.

The county’s health and social care watchdog report, GP Access in Cornwall: What’s your experience? is based on more than 2,100 responses to its survey to discover how easy or difficult people find booking a routine doctor’s appointment.

Healthwatch Cornwall’s chief executive Amanda Stratford said: ‘The most striking element from feedback is how varied access can be.

‘It also highlighted that there is a clear difference in when people are offered an appointment with a doctor with when they wanted an appointment with a doctor – only one in 10 said they needed a same day appointment.

‘By not offering advance routine appointments, undue pressure may be being placed on the system, leading to frustration for patients who have to keep calling back each day until an appointment is available.’

Most people (84%) phoned their surgery to try to make an appointment but almost half found it difficult to get through, while call-back or triage systems worked for some but not others such as people in work who cannot easily answer their phones.

For some people, particularly those with mental health or long-term conditions, not being able to see the same doctor caused them most concern as opposed to how quickly they could see a doctor.

Healthwatch Cornwall created the survey in collaboration with health service commissioners NHS Kernow, and has now made several recommendations to them in a bid to improve access.

The report did not identify locations or areas where the problems were at their greatest.