THURROCK continues to be among the country's most deficient places for GP provision, with a new BBC investigation saying it is now the UK's worst place place to try and get a doctor's appointment.

A statistical survey indicates each GP in the borough has 3,431 patients on average on his or her list.

That compares with a national average of 2,300 patients.

And at its annual conference, beginning tomorrow (Thursday, 3 October) the Royal College of GPs will be told by its leaders that the shocking situation where poorer areas are suffering cannot continue.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, who chairs the Royal College, is expected to tell the conference GP shortages are having a "devastating" impact on the health of local populations and the rise in the number of patients per GP has become unmanageable.

A BBC analysis shows shortages of doctors mean the average GP in England has to care for 17% more patients than nine years ago - a jump of nearly 350 since 2015, helping explain why access to general practice has been worsening and patient satisfaction declining.

The analysis of NHS data also shows the areas struggling the most have list sizes exceeding 3,000 patients, nearly double those with the most doctors. Experts said the variation was "unwarranted" and put patients' health at risk.

Thurrock tops the list of areas with least provision.

1. Thurrock - 3,431
2. Leicester - 3,262
3. Blackburn with Darwen - 3,218
4. Luton and Milton Keynes - 3,033
5. Portsmouth - 3,010

This compared with Wirral and Stockport, which both have fewer than 1,850.

Chief executive of patient watchdog Healthwatch England Louise Ansari says: "Difficulty accessing GP appointments is the number-one issue people share with us.

"And it's often unpaid carers, disabled people, people on lower incomes and those whose first language isn't English that face the biggest challenges."

Satisfaction rates with GP services have plummeted to their lowest level on record and latest figures show one in six patients waiting more than two weeks for an appointment.

Less than 10 per cent of the NHS budget is spent on GP services and British Medical Association members launched a "work-to-rule", including capping patient appointments, in the summer, over what the union says is a lack of funding.

BMA GP leader Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer said: "These stats demonstrate how GP practices have been expected to keep doing more for less. General practice is collapsing."

NHS England said: "We recognise that too many people struggle to get an appointment as quickly as they would like, and in some parts of the country surgeries are struggling to recruit the staff they need."

Despite a growing and ageing population, the number of permanent GPs, excluding locums and trainees, is just over 1,000 lower now, at 27,193 full-time equivalents, than in 2015.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the new government had also cut red tape to make it easier to recruit doctors.

"This government is determined to work with the NHS to fix the front door of our health service and ensure everyone can access GP services," she added.

The government said it was developing plans to train more doctors and relieve some of the pressure by giving pharmacists more responsibilities.