Rishi Sunak: Prime minister registered with private west London GP offering £250 appointments

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has been criticised after it emerged he is registered at a private west London GP practice offering same-day appointments for £250.

The Guardian newspaper revealed yesterday (Monday, November 21) that Sunak is a patient at the clinic, which, it says, also offers:

• Evening and weekend appointments;
• Email or phone consultations for up to £150;
• Home visits costing between £400 and £500;
• And prescriptions costing up to £80.

While the surgery, which the paper did not name, says it guarantees all patients with urgent health concerns will be seen on the same day.

NHS England figures show just 41.5% of GP appointments took place on the same day, with 8% the day after, and around 19% of appointments took place within a week of booking.

But 13.5% of patients weren’t seen for up to two weeks, with 5% waiting more than a month.

And the prime minister has faced criticism over the news - with some questioning his commitment to the NHS.

Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said: “Tories claim to be protecting the NHS while running into the ground. And this is what they mean by ‘reform’.”

“Rishi Sunak is registered with [a] private GP practice offering £250 consultations.”

While Labour peer Professor Prem Sikka added: “So, the richest man in parliament has no idea of how normal people suffer - can’t get GP appointment, hospital appointment, find a dentist.”

Doctor Rachel Clarke wrote: “So Rishi Sunak (family fortune £730 million) uses a private London GP practice that offers same-day appointments [for] £250…

“No wonder he’s happy to run the NHS into the ground with real-terms funding cuts.”

And a spokesperson for the NHS Million campaign, a non-profit run by NHS staff but not affiliated with the health service, said: “The Prime Minister is registered with a private GP practice rather than using the NHS services that he and his colleagues have run into the ground for more than a decade.

Sunak has recommitted his government to a promise that no patients will wait longer than two weeks to see a GP - a pledge first made by Thérèse Coffey, Liz Truss’ health secretary.

He also said everyone who needs an urgent appointment would get one on the same day.

Speaking in Bali at the G20 summit last week, Sunak told reporters it was “not appropriate” to discuss “one’s family’s healthcare”.

And during the contest for the Conservative Party leadership this summer, he said: “You wouldn’t expect me to talk about my kids’ medical [history], but of course we use the NHS.”

LondonWorld has asked No10 for a comment on the prime minister’s private GP practice.

A £3.3bn increase in NHS funding to support the health service through this winter was announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt in last week’s autumn statement.