Record number of GP surgeries close
HUNDREDS of thousands of patients are losing their local doctors’ surgeries with the number of closures reaching a high last year.
Health bosses have warned that the bond between family doctors and their communities is breaking down as figures showed that 138 practices closed in 2018. Eighty-six per cent of these were smaller surgeries.
It came as NHS data showed there were 494 fewer fully qualified GPS in England in March compared with the same time last year, a drop of 1.3 per cent. This was despite a government pledge in 2016 to increase the number of primary care doctors by 5,000 by September next year.
Analysis of replies to Freedom of Information requests submitted to all local NHS areas in the UK by Pulse, the magazine for GPS, suggested 367,937 patients were displaced from their surgeries last year, forcing them to make longer journeys to see a GP.
Meanwhile, 31 of the 138 surgery closures happened as a result of mergers, affecting an estimated 161,126 patients. The campaign group GP Survival last night said mergers often amounted to “cover” for closures.
Dr Richard Vautrey, who chairs the British Medical Association’s GP Committee, said: “The impact on patients is a big concern as they are forced to move to a new practice, but no GP would take the decision to close lightly.
“After all, for many of these GPS, they will have been in charge of their practice for a number of years and will have formed strong bonds with their
patients and the wider community – which is the reason many doctors choose general practice as a career in the first place.”
An expanding patient population, driven by increasing numbers of elderly people with multiple conditions, has increased the workload on GPS, making the sector less attractive to potential recruits. While yesterday’s official figures showed a rise in overall GP numbers, this was inflated by those in training and not fully qualified. The number of practice staff has also been bolstered by increases in nurses and other non-doctor healthcare workers.
Pulse’s analysis found that many smaller practices – those with 5,000 or fewer patients – had been operating with just a single partner GP before closing.
Today’s figures contrast with those for 2013, when there were just 18 practice closures of any size.
Dr Jackie Applebee, who runs the Tower Hamlets Local Medical Committee, said smaller surgeries achieved better outcomes and were preferred by patients.
Dr Vautrey added: ‘These figures clearly show the increased pressure that practices have been under during the last decade. As the workload mounts, more doctors leave, and surgeries struggle to recruit new staff.
“While there are many reasons why practices may close or merge – including when private providers hand back short-term contracts or realise that practices may not be financially viable – ongoing pressures will likely have played a significant role.”
NHS England said that its 2017-18 financial year data for England showed a higher proportion of closures – 62 per cent – were due to mergers than the figure suggested by the Pulse data, which covered the whole UK from January to December 2018.
A spokesman said: “In England there were fewer practice closures and patient dispersals in 2017-18 compared with 2016-17 and we continue to support all general practices to help them thrive.
“Thousands of practices continue to be helped through the GP resilience programme, where investment has been increased from a planned £8 million in 2019-20 to £13 million.”
138 Number of doctors’ surgeries that closed down in 2018. NHS England claims that 62 per cent of these were actually ‘mergers’