A Conservative councillor and ex-mayor of Marlow has been criticised for her “dangerous” comments over the lack of appointments at Marlow GP surgery.

Wycombe Labour criticised Wycombe District Councillor Suzanne Brown for stating that around 50 to 60 per cent of patients visiting GP’s are merely doing so because they want someone to talk to, and that people should speak to their neighbours instead of doctors to ease the problem.

This comes after the practice on Victoria Road came under fire last week when a petition was launched asking for doctors to urgently change the way the town’s only surgery handles appointments.

Leader of the Labour group of WDC, Cllr Rafiq Raja, said: “It is shocking to read the remarks attributed to Cllr Brown regarding her advice to people seeking a GP appointment to speak to a neighbour and her assertion that 50 per cent or 60 per cent of people visit their GP for a chat.

“Even our hard-pressed GP’s would not ask anyone to put off seeing their GP because of difficulties in making an appointment, for very often an earlier diagnosis can be helpful in saving resources and indeed lives.

“I find Cllr Brown’s suggestions ill-considered and naive if not downright dangerous.”

The surgery in Marlow has seen a 27 per cent rise in appointments in the last four years due to the town’s growing population.

However, despite the surgery having a rapid access clinic, patients are still concerned that they are unable to get an appointment.

Cllr Brown, who is a member of the Patient Reference Group, hit back at the remarks stating that she by no way meant that people should seek medical advice from their neighbours.

She said: “A lot of people are just making appointments because they want someone to talk to.

“I am not suggesting that neighbours replace doctors, but I believe that someone should have someone they can talk to first.

“A lot of people just want some company because they are lonely and appointments are wasted as a result of that.

“This won’t resolve the doctor situation but some things are not meant for a doctor’s appointment, like a headache or a tummy ache.

“Of course I’m not saying go to your neighbour for a medical opinion, we just want to encourage people to be more neighbourly.

This has got nothing to do with politics; I’m just talking about the basic human instinct to look after each other.”

The surgery currently serves a practice population of 27, 539 with 18 GP’s and a further three expected to start in the next few months.