It has been revealed that the number of GPs in England has fallen every year since the government first pledged to increase the family doctor workforce by 5,000.
In September 2015 there were 29,364 full-time-equivalent GPs in post, when the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt first promised to increase the total by 5,000 by 2020.
However, Health Minister Maria Caulfield disclosed in a parliamentary answer that by September 2020 the number of family doctors had dropped to 27,939, a fall of 1,425. She also confirmed that the number has fallen even further since then, to 27,920.
In 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson replaced Hunt’s pledge with a new commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000 by 2024. However, current Health Secretary Sajid Javid admitted at the end of last year that this pledge was unlikely to be met because so many family doctors were retiring early.
Organisations representing GPs say their heavy workloads, rising expectations among patients, excess bureaucracy, a lack of other health professionals working alongside them in surgeries, and concern that overwork may lead to them making mistakes are prompting experienced family doctors to quit in order to improve their mental health and work-life balance.
Dr Kieran Sharrock, the deputy chair of the BMA’s GP committee, said: “Despite repeated pledges from government to boost the workforce by thousands, it’s going completely the wrong way. As numbers fall, remaining GPs are forced to stretch themselves even more thinly, and this of course impacts access for patients and the safety of care provided.”
Dr Dan Poulter, the Conservative MP who tabled the question to Caulfield, said: “These figures are hugely worrying because they show that GP numbers in England have been falling, despite ministerial pledges to increase them. GPs’ relentless workloads are clearly a major factor here. Patients and the entire NHS desperately need more family doctors, in order to reduce waiting times and ensure people who are ill get care, and referral on to hospital if needed, as soon as possible.”
Poulter is a former health minister who works part-time as a psychiatrist in the NHS. He has urged the government to push through changes to help ease the pressure on GPs.
