Local Democracy Reporter, EssexHealthwatch Southend said it was being approached by local people about access "almost every day".
"There are real issues at the current time," Healthwatch's chief officer, Owen Richards, told the city council's"GP access needs to be updated. There is a reference in there around a plan to improve access to GPs, but there is a bit of gap in here for me on that because that is something local people talk to us about almost every day - access to services, general practice and dentistry.
"There is something in the language we use in the system about improving access, some of which could be through digital routes, but we almost seem to focus more on the solution rather than the issue that there are problems of access at the moment."