A staggering 50 per cent of patients making appointments at Marlow’s only surgery do not need to see a doctor according to demoralised medical staff.

Overstretched doctors at the Victoria Road surgery are pleading with residents to consider a number of new services rolled in in a bid to reduce appointment waiting times.

This comes after frustrated patients last year launched a petition asking for the way the surgery handles appointments to be urgently reviewed.

Since then the surgery has introduced an on-site pharmacist, home visit paramedics, and are welcoming an updated phone system all of which are already helping reduce the doctors workload.

Receptionists have also been specially trained to conduct initial over the phone assessments but often struggle to get patients to co-operate with the service according to staff.

Surgeries across the nation are in "crisis" due to slashed budgets according to Dr Penny Macdonald, but the practice is doing everything in its power to reduce the strain on services.

However surgery staff desperately need the co-operation of patients stressed Dr Macdonald.

She said: “It is just not sustainable at the moment. The money we get from the government has gone down and the demand has gone up.

“People have been told that they should be able to see their GPs on the same day they want an appointment and if they don’t get one they should complain. Their expectations have been ramped up by the government.

“We are trying to give a good service but we can’t give people everything they want. If people start to use these services the waiting time for an appointment will go down for those that actually need one.”

The surgery - which serves a town population of nearly 28,000 – has seen five doctors leave over the past year due to the strain funding cuts are putting on the working environment.

Dr Macdonald continued: “Around a third of GPs are set to retire in the next five years. They are pushing it forward because it is just so unappealing to work in general practice. We and all practices are just so vulnerable.

“All we need is for a few more people to leave and we would be forced to give our contracts back.”

Despite the crisis, Dr Macdonald insisted staff have not been “sitting on their hands”, and are looking forward to the launch of a brand new website which will feature an FAQ section answering administration questions.

And an online consultation service has also been in place for the past year so patients can avoid making unnecessary GP appointments.

Cllr Suzanne Brown, who chairs the Patient Reference Group, has also urged Marlovians to seriously take in to account the new services on offer before booking an appointment with a GP in a bid to save the surgery.

She said: “They really are doing their best and we really don’t want to see this surgery closed.

“The main thing is most people who are not ill phone the doctors and ask for an appointment when they don’t really need one so it is getting difficult for people to get an emergency appointment when they actually need one.”