People attending different GP practices in the same building face huge variations in waiting times for the same procedures Getty imagesPatients are facing a lottery of services from GP surgeries even within the same postcode, a Times investigation has found. People attending different GP practices in the same building face huge variations in waiting times for the same procedures, the analysis shows. Choosing one practice over another could influence whether it is possible to have a baby after fertility treatment, or mean waiting five weeks longer for knee surgery, according to the study. The Times data team analysed the addresses of all English GP surgeries and found 120 pairs within 500 metres of each other that were governed by separate clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), the GP-led bodies that decide what the NHS will pay for locally. Many had identical postcodes and all are thought to…

Source: The Times August 01, 2017 22:52 UTC