PATIENTS are struggling to access out-of-hours GP appointments across the district, new figures have revealed.

According to data provided by NHS England, no patients in the Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven areas have access to Full Provision.

Out of the 158,982 patients served by the three areas’ joint Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), 150,864 have access to Partial Provision.

Full Provision means patients have access to pre-bookable appointments on a Saturday and Sunday, and on each weekday for at least 90 minutes – in the early morning before 8am, in the evening after 6.30pm or in both morning and evening – through the practice or a group of which the practice is a member.

The majority of patients in the area are registered for Partial Provision, which means patients have access to pre-bookable appointments on at least one day a week.

No Provision is characterised as having no access to pre-bookable appointments outside of core contractual hours either at their own practice or through a group of surgeries their practice is a member of.

The lack of Full Provision in the Keighley area contrasts with that Bradford, where more than a third of patients have access to Full Provision.

In the Bradford City CCG area, there are 24 practices serving 134,776 registered patients, with 58,798 having access to a Full Provision service out of 10 practices.

A total of 56,831, or 42 per cent, of patients are registered for Partial Provision.

A further 19,147 registered with a practice in the Bradford City CCG area have access to No Provision.

A spokesman for Bradford City, Districts and Craven CCGs said: “We have listened to the public and in line with national plans our extended access scheme went live in June and July 2017 across the district.

“If a practice is part of the current scheme, their patients are able to book appointments through their own GP practice between 6.30pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday at one of our hubs.

“There is also some weekend availability across the district. We are increasing the amount of our population who have access to extended hours and we are on track to be able to offer this service to 100 per cent of the people across the Bradford district and Craven by October 2018.”