Liz Truss promises GP appointments within two weeks – Labour reached a target of 48 hours

With the NHS so overwhelmed, many will have experienced difficulty getting a GP appointment when one is needed.

Today, Prime Minister Liz Truss made the promise that people can expect a GP appointment within two weeks, but under the last Labour government that governed until 2010, that target figure was within 48 hours.

Truss’s rather underwhelming guarantee was greeted with a round of applause as she delivered it during her speech to the Conservative Party Conference 2022.

In it, she said Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary Therese Coffey “will deliver for patients” requiring the NHS’s services.

Truss said: “Our fantastic Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary will deliver for patients so they can expect a GP appointment within two weeks.

“She will ensure that those who need urgent care will be seen on the same day. And she will get ambulances out there faster and she will improve A&E.”

But, as was quickly pointed out online, her two-week target for GP appointments falls rather flat when compared to the fact that Labour got it down to 48 hours.

Advocacy group Best for Britain shared the clip from Truss’s speech on Twitter, writing alongside it: “Liz Truss promises everyone will be able to get a GP appointment within 2 weeks - as if this is good news.

“Under the last Labour government the target was 48 hours. And they met that.”

In the comments, people from other European nations, and even from Scotland, chimed in to say that they are often able to get same-day GP appointments.

One person wrote: “Same-day appointments available up here (Scotland).”

Another asked: “I get a GP visit on the same day. I live in Lithuania. What kind of ghetto y'all living in UK?”

Other people also questioned why a target of two weeks is deemed not only acceptable but good.

Someone wrote: “Yep, can't understand how 'within 2 weeks' is in any way an acceptable target.”

Another commented: “Imagine just admitting that is a target to aspire to..”

One Twitter user said: “‘Within 2 weeks if you're still alive’ would sound more realistic.”

“Soon people will forget there was a 4 hour A&E target that used to be met, and the tories will claim getting seen in 24 hours is a win,” one person argued.

During her speech, Truss was also interrupted by Green Peace protestors who held up a big banner reading, "Who Voted For This?".

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