More than a quarter of patients seeking an appointment with their family doctor in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley had to wait a week or more, a survey shows.

The Royal College of GPs said the findings were concerning, and that there is a risk of people not getting the treatment they need to prevent medical conditions becoming more serious.

Of the GP patients in the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG who responded to the NHS’s annual GP Survey, 28% had to wait a week or more to see a GP or nurse last time they booked an appointment. Five-years-ago, just 14% had to wait that long.

Only 27% managed to see a doctor on the same day.

In the area, the issue was most pronounced at Braeside Surgery, Gorse Hill, Farningham, where 62% of patients had to wait a week or longer to see a GP or nurse. At the other end of the scale, only 3% of patients faced a week’s delay at the Forge Surgery Fleet Health Campus, Northfleet, and 60% were seen on the same day.

Last year, Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to ensure all doctor’s surgeries would open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, unless they proved there was no demand.

The survey shows fewer than 60% of patients in the Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG are happy with the appointment times available to them.

It means that 9% of patients in the area ended up not accepting the last appointment they were offered, more than a quarter of them because there were none available soon enough.

Of those who did not take an appointment, 15% went on to visit a hospital A&E – the service which extended GP hours are supposed to be taking the strain off. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Patients are still waiting too long and too many are not getting an appointment when they want one. As well as being frustrating for patients, and GPs, this is concerning as it means patients might not be getting the treatment they need in the early stages of their condition – and their conditions will potentially become more serious.”