MORE GP surgeries should allow appointments to be booked online, according to a new report.

Research by think tank Reform Scotland, revealed only two-thirds of nearly 1000 GP surgeries in Scotland have a website, and that less than 10% allow appointments to be booked online.

It comes after the Evening Times revealed patients are waiting three weeks to see a GP in some parts of Glasgow.

One Springburn pensioner told NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde he had waited 21 days for a GP appointment.

Lengthy waits are leading some desperate patients to the doors of A&E for non-emergency treatment, heaping extra pressure on already overstretched hospital services.

The survey of the 994 GP surgeries in Scotland revealed around half offer the ability to order repeat prescriptions online.

Research also highlighted a wide variation in availability of appointments, with some practices only offering appointments on the day, while others allowed appointments to be booked up to six weeks in advance.

Reform Scotland's Director Geoff Mawdsley said: "This report is not about the medical care provided by individual doctors or GP practices.

"But about the practical arrangements as to how patients access their GPs, the 'gate-keepers' to our health service, and whether we can't improve arrangements to encourage a better service.

"Reform Scotland believes that it is simply unacceptable that there is such a wide variation in the way people can access GP services across Scotland."

Mr Mawdsley added: "Giving individuals greater choice over their GP practice would mean that people were able to easily walk away from GP practices they felt did not provide services that suited them.

"We don't envisage that such a policy would lead to a mass exodus of patients from GP practices, but, the potential that they could, would give them much greater influence over the way services developed."

rebecca.gray@ eveningtimes.co.uk