Up to 10 million people in the countryside struggle to get to health appointments ALAMYThe countryside has become a healthcare desert where 10 million people struggle to access GP appointments and spend up to £100 on taxis to get to hospital, nurses will say today. Poor broadband and mobile phone signals, unreliable public transport and the closure of GP practices, community hospitals and nursing homes all make for inadequate healthcare provision, it will be claimed. The Royal College of Nursing’s annual congress in Liverpool will hear today that in some parts of the UK ambulances can take nearly an hour to reach patients with life-threatening conditions. Elderly patients are stranded in their homes unable to get to appointments because of a lack of transport, while others face a 60-mile round trip by taxi. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will…

Source: The Times May 23, 2019 00:14 UTC