7 in 10 GPs set to retire early
Crisis blamed on workload but patients suffer most
SEVEN in ten GPs plan to retire early in a major blow to patients who struggle to secure appointments, a survey reveals today.
Family doctors typically blame burnout and workload while others say it is because their pension pots are full.
The state pension age in England is 66 but a poll of 823 GPs by trade magazine Pulse found 72 per cent plan to retire before this.
Some 48 per cent expect to retire aged 60 or younger, 13 per cent aged 55 or earlier and 2 per cent before their 50th birthday.
A similar survey in 2020 revealed 40 per cent of GPs were considering early retirement, meaning the crisis is getting worse.
Since 2015, the NHS in England has lost the equivalent of 2,000 fulltime GPs, leaving an average of 2,200 patients per family doctor.
A quarter of complaints the Healthwatch campaign handles from patients relate to GP services, with satisfaction at its lowest ever level.
Dr Martin Whitenburgh, a GP partner in Warrington who aims to retire aged 50 to 55, said: ‘The sooner I leave this mess the better. I don’t recognise the job any more and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.’
A salaried GP, who wished to remain anonymous, also aimed to stop work before 55 as they ‘cannot sustain the workload’. The doctor added: ‘Two close friends, both excellent GPs, have left the NHS due to the workload and stress, one to BUPA and the other to an insurance provider.
‘Conscientious doctors are leaving because they can’t/won’t do a bad job. Ten-minute appointments are no longer fit for purpose.’
Doctors have also been in a longterm dispute over rules relating to GP pensions which mean they can be hit with large tax bills if they save too much. Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the numbers planning to quit early was ‘concerning but not altogether unsurprising given the intense workload and workforce pressures’.
He called on ministers to fulfil their pledge to provide 6,000 more GPs by 2024. Dr Samira Anane, GP committee workforce lead at the British Medical Association, blamed ‘unprecedented workload leading to burnout’ plus ‘complex and punitive pension taxation rules’ for the crisis.
She warned that the loss of doctors was damaging to ‘the communities they serve and the people in them who deserve highquality, timely care’.
Dr Anane added that without action ‘we will only lose more doctors, more patients will suffer, and the very functioning of the health service will be in jeopardy’.