Family doctors treating 100 a day – 3 times safe limit

GPS are dealing with more than 100 patients a day – three times the safe limit – a survey reveals today.

The average family doctor has 41 patient ‘contacts’ in a typical day, including consultations and phone calls. But one in ten has more than 60 – and Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said she occasionally has more than 100. The survey, by Pulse magazine, found the safe number of patients was 30. Doctors risked making serious mistakes if they saw any more than this.

Pulse asked GPs how many patient contacts they had on a typical day – February 11 this year. Dr James Howarth, a GP in Spilsby, Lincolnshire said: ‘I was duty doctor on the day of Pulse’s survey, and I had 124 patient contacts.’

The Government promised in 2015 to hire an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020 – but have since admitted the goal is unachievable. Research by the Nuffield Trust has found the NHS is facing its first sustained fall in GP numbers in 50 years. There were 64.9 family doctors per 100,000 people in 2014 – but only 60 in 2018.

GPs who retire or quit are not being replaced by trainees because the career path is seen as unattractive, experts warn.