GP workforce is shrinking, says NHS

Public Services

Medical training places left unfilled as pressure mounts on general practice

There is a GP workforce crisis in England, says the NHS. In a report titled ‘Securing the Future GP Workforce’, it concludes that the crisis ‘must be addressed immediately’ and that ‘evidence is also emerging that the GP workforce is now shrinking rather than growing’.

This year’s census of GPs shows that there are 356 fewer than last year, and in  some regions, only 60 per cent of places for GP training were filled.

The problem is compounded by a growing number of trained GPs leaving the workforce. According to the General Medical Council, the number of GPs in England applying for paperwork to emigrate doubled from 266 in 2009 to 529 in 2013.

Labour’s shadow Health minister Jamie Reed said:

 “Patients struggle for appointments as the number of GPs falls under David Cameron. Medical students are put off by the intolerable pressure ministers have placed on general practice. While twice as many GPs are emigrating and 60 per cent are considering early retirement. 

“David Cameron scrapped Labour’s guarantee of a GP appointment within 48 hours and now a million people turn to A&E when they can’t see their GP – a root cause of the Tory A&E crisis. That’s why the next Labour government will invest an extra £2.5 billion a year to recruit 8,000 more GPs and 20,000 nurses.”

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9 Responses to “GP workforce is shrinking, says NHS”

  1. LB

    That will be the NHS that is a monopoly and hasn’t trained up GPs.

  2. Leon Wolfeson

    Except, of course, it’s not a monopoly and it’s the Government which sets GP training place numbers, not the NHS.

    But apart from that…oh, right, you’re wrong.

  3. LB

    NHS = Government you plonker.

  4. Dave Stewart

    No it doesn’t. The NHS is answerable to and funded by the government but it is not the same thing. Unless of course you think that the ministers deal with the day to day running of the NHS? NHS managers have no say whatsoever in how many GPs get trained so blaming the NHS seems a little wide of the mark.

  5. LB

    Teaching takes place in NHS hospitals.

    It’s the NHS that needs to answer for the lack of training.

    The NHS is a monopoly

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