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Jailed rapists & child abusers ‘have quicker access to GPs than millions of innocent Brits’
A former Tory MEP has blasted the situation as a 'scandal'
JAILED rapists and child abusers enjoy quicker access to GPs than millions of innocent people, a report has revealed.
Inmates at a prison that only houses sex offenders get to see a doctor within seven days.
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But NHS stats show more than one in four law-abiding folk who live nearby have to wait much longer to see their own GP.
Nationwide, 19 per cent of appointments in December came more than a week after booking.
Patients, politicians and campaigners have blasted the bizarre situation at HMP Bure — built on the former RAF Coltishall airbase in Norfolk.
Ex-Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman, 63, who lives in the county, is currently on a month-long wait to see a doctor.
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The Freedom Association campaign group chairman said: “What would Douglas Bader, who was based at RAF Coltishall during the Battle of Britain, have thought of this? It’s a scandal.”
The Category C prison, seven miles north of Norwich, houses up to 641 inmates.
An HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, released last month, states: “GPs provided six sessions a week and patients could usually be seen within seven days.”
Prisoners are also visited by “a range of healthcare professionals” — including a physiotherapist, optician and even a podiatrist.
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Pensioners’ campaign group Silver Voices said: “This stark comparison with prisons reveals the depth of the current crisis.
“In some areas, it is almost impossible to see a doctor and waits can be up to six weeks.”
A Prison Service spokesman said: “Prison healthcare services mirror those in the community and NHS data shows most people see a GP within a week.”
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