SWINDON patients are still facing some of the longest GP waits in the country, figures reveal.

In March, the latest month for which numbers are available, more than 32,000 appointments were held more than two weeks after patients had booked them. It meant a third of patients were left waiting over a fortnight to see their GP. Over 9,500 were waiting longer than a month, according to the NHS Digital figures

It came as a new poll revealed GPs were seeing up to 60 patients a day – double the number that most feel safe dealing with. Specialist magazine Pulse surveyed 1,681 GPs, who told them they were on average dealing with 41 patients a day and working 11-hour days.

Dr Peter Swinyard, a Swindon GP and chairman of the Family Doctor Association, said the pressures had changed significantly since the 1980s as specialist nurses took on more routine jobs and GPs were asked to tackle the most complex cases.

“We get the difficult, complex, multi-system, multi-factor interesting stuff to do,” he said.

“While interesting, trying to deal with 30 people that in one morning surgery is completely enervating. You get to the stage where you think I’m going to make a mistake because I’m so tired.”

NHS England acknowledged general practice was under pressure. A spokesman said £4.5bn was being invested to “fund an army of 20,000 more staff to support GP practices”.

In Swindon, there have been well-publicised challenges in recruiting and retaining GPs. The clinical commissioning group, the NHS body responsible for funding GP services, has said the town is short of around 25 GPs.

Last month, Kate Liddington, associate director of primary care at Swindon CCG, told a meeting of the organisation’s governing body: “We know and we have known for some time that Swindon does struggle compared to the national average in terms of its GP numbers.”

Earlier this year, it was revealed Swindon patients had some of the longest appointment waits in the country with a quarter of patients waiting more than two weeks to visit their GP in the run up to Christmas. Swindon CCG said it was offering more weekend and evening appointments.

Following that story, a spokesman for Swindon CCG said: “We recognise many people, particularly those who wish to see a specific GP at a specific date and time, have had to wait longer than we would like.

“The traditional view of primary care – in which all patients were seen by a single GP – has changed, with more and more appointments now being carried out by additional clinical staff, such as pharmacists, nurses and physiotherapists, who are able to offer patients an alternative, and sometimes quicker, route to the support, advice and treatment they need to feel better.

“However, we fully accept that on some occasions it’s important for patients to discuss their condition with a GP without delay, which is why the Success Clinics at Moredon Medical Centre and the Swindon NHS Health Centre in Islington Street offer same day appointments across seven days for people with urgent conditions, such as urine infections, stomach pain and severe skin conditions.

“In Swindon, there are more than 230,000 patients registered at one of 23 practices, and we are always looking at new ways – such as offering more appointments at evenings and weekends – to ensure that every person is able to access help as and when they need it.”