Patients at some Shropshire GP practices have more than double the chance of getting a same-day appointment than those with other surgeries in the county, new figures show.
The times patients have had to wait to see a doctor or nurse have been revealed in data released today by NHS Digital.
The stats, which cover July 2023, show the number of days between an appointment being booked and the date of the appointment – and reveal some significant discrepancies between practices.
Out of the 38 practices in Shropshire, excluding Telford and Wrekin, Marden Medical Practice in Shrewsbury had the highest proportion of same-day appointments, with 67 per cent.
Beeches Medical Practice in Bayston Hill and Shawbury Medical Practice both recorded 59 per cent of appointments were on the same day they were booked.
In contrast, only 29 per cent of appointments at Craven Arms Surgery took place on the same day they were booked, along with only 32 per cent of those at Church Stretton Medical Centre.
The national average for the month was just below 44 per cent.
The data also reveals the number of patients facing longer waits at each of the surgeries.
Highley Medical Centre was the only practice to see all patients within three weeks of an appointment being booked, with less than three per cent waiting longer than two weeks for an appointment.
Surgeries to see around 98 per cent of patients within three weeks were Shifnal and Priorslee, Marden in Shrewsbury, Shawbury, Hodnet, and Craven Arms.
Meanwhile over 25 per cent of patients at Mytton Oak Medical Practice in Shrewsbury faced waiting more than four weeks for an appointment, with another four per cent waiting between three and four weeks.
The proportion of patients waiting over three weeks for an appointment was 21 per cent at Prescott Surgery and 18 per cent at Radbrook Green, both in Shrewsbury.
The Caxton Surgery in Oswestry also recorded around 18 per cent of appointments having longer than a three-week wait, while the figure at Market Drayton Medical Practice was around 16 per cent.
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