NHS CRISIS: 500,000 FORCED TO FIND NEW GP
Record number of families move surgery as smaller practices are axed
SURGERY closures have left a record 519,000 patients needing to move to new GP clinics, figures show.
Experts blame NHS cuts and a shortage of family doctors.
One said: “These closures could leave patients facing long waits, and push more to A&E."
THE shocking closure of GP surgeries up and down the land is leaving patients with longer journeys to see a doctor and fewer appointments which could push them into already stretched A&Es, experts have warned.
Last year, a record 519,000 patients had to switch to another surgery because theirs had shut, figures show.
Data released from Clinical Commissioning Groups revealed 138 GP buildings closed across the UK increasing more than seven-fold since 2013.
Many practices merged with others after their base was shut, affecting 161,126 patients.
Experts blamed NHS cuts and an exodus of family doctors struggling to cope with the growing workload.
Dr Jackie Applebee, a GP in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, said: “The system is creaking. Smaller practices are being lost because of under-resourcing.”
Chief executive of the Patients Association Rachel Power added: “Patients will be right to feel alarmed by these findings. Many may be left wondering if their practice might be next to face closure.
“These closures and mergers appear to stem from the well-known, long-term failures in workforce planning and shortage of funding for the NHS in the face of rising patient need. These closures could leave patients facing long waits, and push more towards A&E, which we know is under severe pressure.” The number of qualified GPs in England fell by 1.5% to
28,697 in March.
NHS England figures show there were 312 more family doctors – far short of the 5,000 extra the Tories pledged.
But once trainee registrars were removed from the data it revealed there were actually 441 fewer fully qualified GPs.
The CCGs data, released to GP magazine
Pulse under Freedom of Information laws, showed 134 surgeries closed in 2017. In 2013, the figure was just 18.
Smaller clinics, those with 5,000 or fewer patients, were hit worst in 2018, accounting for 86% of closures.
Among those shutting their doors was the Nantyglo Medical Practice branch in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, leaving 10,305 patients having to switch GPs.
One in Clayton, West Sussex, closed, affecting 12,464 patients. The Gillies and Overbridge Medical Partnership in Hampshire shut and 19,120 patients needed to change surgeries.
The Brownhill Surgery in Chandler’s Ford, Hants, closed down in November 2017 because of a shortage of doctors, hitting 7,000 patients.
Local Lib Dem councillor Alan Broadhurst said last night: “Some of the patients have had to go to a surgery which was a couple of miles away by car.
“For older people who do not drive this has been a real problem for them, they couldn’t find a surgery within walking distance. They get hit the hardest.”
NHS England insisted: “Thousands of practices continue to be helped through the GP resilience programme, where investment has been increased from a planned £8million in 2019/20 to £13million.” ■ Have closures affected you? Contact the Mirror on 0800 282 591 or email mirrornews@mirror.co.uk.
Closures could mean long waits and push patients to A&E
RACHEL POWER CHIEF OF PATIENTS ASSOCIATION