There is a “vicious cycle” in GP surgeries that means many family doctors are unemployed while patients face difficulties accessing care, experts have warned.
GP surgeries are unable to recruit family doctors due to a lack of funding or physical space to house more doctors in their surgery, according to a new report by the GP magazine Pulse Today and supported by the campaign group Rebuild General Practice.
Experts said the situation means that GPs are facing “unsustainable and unsafe” workloads.
For every £1 invested in primary care, we see a return of up to £14 in GDP growth.
Investing in GPs isn’t just about healthcare, it’s about the economy too.
Let's #RebuildGP. #TeamGP pic.twitter.com/AXRpSQmKAO
— Rebuild General Practice (@RebuildGP) January 21, 2025
The report highlights how surgeries are often using cheaper members of staff, such as nurses or pharmacists, but concerns have been raised that some are working “above the correct level of clinical responsibility”.
The report also highlights “controversy about the responsibilities given to physician associates”.
The authors of the report called for a boost to funding for GP services, saying that a lack of cash is an “underlying crisis” to problems with GP surgeries.
“There are staff available, and there are positions that need filling – the main barrier is the funding to pay for this,” according to the report, which has been published by Cogora – which publishes Pulse Today.
Author of the report, Jamie Kaffash, editor-in-chief at Pulse Today, said: “GPs and practices are stuck in a vicious cycle.
“Rising GP unemployment alongside underfunded practices means that practices are unable to recruit the vital workforce to meet growing patient demand.
“Fewer GPs and more unemployed GPs is leading to unmanageable workloads for GPs and a severe increase in the risk to patient safety.”
RCGP responds to Health Secretary’s GP funding promises.
"The Health Secretary has clearly recognised that the solutions to many of the problems in the NHS lie in having a robust general practice service." – @KamilaRCGP
Read our full response on our website ⤵️… pic.twitter.com/mPBlPcFjSZ
— Royal College of General Practitioners (@rcgp) December 20, 2024
Dr Rachel Warrington, on behalf of the Rebuild General Practice campaign, added: “We desperately need more GPs within the system to meet this increasing patient demand, but we simply do not have the funding or the space in our local practices for recruiting GPs.
“This means our workloads have reached unsustainable and unsafe thresholds.
“We are urging the government to allocate fair, real-time funding to general practice and prioritise the retention of GPs.”
Commenting on the report, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said the findings of the report were “troubling”.
“Despite the frustration of both GPs and patients over long waiting times, practices are finding themselves unable to recruit the GPs they need, and GPs are reporting not being able to find appropriate work, this makes no sense,” she said.
“While there may be a range of reasons for this at practice-level, at the heart of this crisis is the chronic underfunding and poor workforce planning that have plagued general practice for decades.
“We need to see the Government tackle the employment crisis in general practice head-on.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited a ludicrous situation where patients can’t get a GP, yet qualified GPs couldn’t get a job.
“We acted immediately to find the money, cut red tape, and we’re now hiring an extra 1,000 GPs onto the frontline this year.
“Our Plan for Change will provide an extra £900 million for practices next year, alongside reforms to cut out unnecessary targets and box ticking and bring back the family doctor, so patients can book appointments with the GPs of their choice.”
