NHS ‘faces shortage of 10,000 GPs unless workload is eased’
SURGERIES could face a crippling shortage of more than 10,000 GPs in the next decade, experts warned NHS bosses yesterday.
They say more than one in four of the 37,800 posts in England needed to deliver pre-Covid standards of care could be left vacant without urgent action.
The Health Foundation has found the NHS is short of around 4,200 full-time equivalent family doctors. That is projected to rise to about 10,700 in 2030/31 as the demand for care increases.
Anita Charlesworth, of the foundation, said: “Over the next decade, things are set to get worse, not better, with a growing shortage of GPs and practice nurses.
“It is critical the Government takes action to protect general practice and avoid it getting locked in a vicious cycle of rising workload driving staff to leave and, in turn, fuelling even more departures.”
The analysis suggests if more doctors are recruited, retained and supported by staff such as pharmacists and physiotherapists, the shortfall could be limited to around 3,300.
But if more exhausted doctors leave and newer roles are not properly integrated into teams, the shortfall could be as high as 20,400 in 10 years.
Royal College of GPs chairman Prof Martin Marshall said the worst case scenario projections would be a “disaster for patient care and the NHS”. Royal College research has shown nearly 19,000 GPs plan to leave in the next five years. Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday sought to calm older people’s fears over his digital health service revamp – and admitted he has to help his mother use the NHS app.
He told the Policy Exchange in London: “We have to make sure there are options for everyone but also show that more broadly, when we talk about digitisation and modernisation, it benefits everyone.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old.”