Recruitment of GPs still failing
URGENT calls to reverse the declining number of doctors available to see at Barnsley’s surgeries have not come to fruition in a 12-month period – after latest figures revealed no progress has been made in recruiting more GPs locally.
NHS Digital figures show 119 full-time equivalent, fullytrained GPs were working at surgeries in the borough in November – in line with the year before.
The NHS has lost more than 400 individual GP partners and 244 salaried, locum and retainer GPs in the last 12 months, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).
This has created a net loss of 646 individual GPs since January 2022, leading to a knock-on impact on waiting times at Barnsley Hospital’s A and E as patients seek help elsewhere due to a lack of appointments at GPs.
The British Medical Association said the GP workforce is in ‘crisis’ and accused the government of not delivering on a five-year manifesto to increase the number of doctors.
Dr Julius Parker, deputy chair of the BMA’s GP Committee for England, said: “There are no two ways about it: we are in the midst of a GP workforce crisis.
“We are having to do more work with fewer resources and are being stretched to the limit, leaving patients frustrated that they cannot always access the care they need.
“More GPs are needed to provide the level of care that people deserve and we want to deliver.
“The government must prioritise GP recruitment and retention, otherwise the NHS will continue to haemorrhage doctors, putting patient care and safety at risk.”
Nationally, there were 27,483 fully-trained GPs in England in November – a marginal increase from the 27,392 last November.
But in September 2015, the earliest available figures, there were 29,364, meaning almost 1,900 GPs have been lost over the last eight years.
As well as GPs reducing at surgeries, NHS Digital figures show around 400 NHS staff resigned from their roles at Barnsley Hospital.
This was up from approximately 335 before the pandemic and the highest number since records began a decade earlier.
Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, warned more strikes – not just from junior doctors – will continue unless ministers act.
“Staff are leaving, creating severe shortages and making patients unsafe,” she added.
“Growth in the workforce was outstripped by a four times greater increase in waiting lists.
“We know the many pressure spots across all health and care settings and what it means for safety – longer waits, poorer care quality and too often a loss of even basic dignity.
“The public supports us but they know it shouldn’t be like this.
“Our polling showed 72 per cent say they’d support further strike action over staffing levels, and 66 per cent said they’d support staff striking over pay.
“In 2024, politicians of every party across the UK must rise to the public’s expectations on safe health and care services.
“Failure to do so will cost them votes and maybe jobs.”