27.04.16
GP numbers decline by nearly 2% in a year
GP numbers are in decline, according to new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
The figures show that there were 34,055 full-time equivalent GPs, excluding locums, working in England as of 30 September 2015. This represents a decrease of 1.9% from the 34,712 recorded in 2014.
The figures come as the British Medical Association (BMA) have launched a campaign, ‘Urgent Prescription for General Practice’, to address the growing crisis in GP care. The BMA’s figures revealed that approximately 37.3% of practices say doctors are planning to retire in the next five years, whilst 10.4% described their practices as financially unsustainable.
NHS England recently published its General Practice Forward View, promising a £2.4bn funding injection and a 3,250 GP recruitment target to end the shortfall in GPs.
The data from the HSCIC, which is set to changes it name to NHS Digital, also found there were 15,398 full-time equivalent nurses working at GP practices, an increase of 2.2% from 15,062 in 2014, despite a 9% shortage in nurses across the NHS as a whole. However, numbers of other staff had declined. There were 9,149 other direct patient staff, a 1.4% decrease, and 63,728 admin staff, a 0.5% decrease.
The Health Select Committee have warned that primary care is under 'growing and unsustainable pressure'.
A recent Health Foundation report also found that the UK tops the international table for GP stress and that 92% of GPs reported they were so overworked their appointments lasted for 15 minutes or less.