GP recruitment problem 'staggering' as vacanicies hit new high, research shows

GP surgeries are struggling more than ever to recruit, the research suggests
PA
Eleanor Rose12 May 2017

Vacancies for GPs are at an all-time high, research suggests.

A survey of 860 GPs for Pulse magazine found 12.2 per cent of positions are currently vacant.

This is an increase from 11.7 per cent at the same time last year, and up from 2.1 per cent in 2011, when Pulse started collecting data.

Some 158 GPs in the new survey said they had to give up recruiting a GP in the past 12 months after being unsuccessful.

The survey also found that the average time taken to recruit a GP partner has risen from 6.6 months to 7.4 in the last year.

Pulse said that some practices are having to resort to hiring non-GPs such as therapists and pharmacists to fill the gaps, while others have closed down after failing to recruit a GP partner.

A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee in April found there had been "no progress" in the last year on increasing the number of GPs despite a Government target to recruit 5,000 more by 2020.

The report said the number had actually fallen, from 34,592 full-time equivalent doctors in September 2015 to 34,495 in September 2016.

MPs said more trainees needed to be recruited, while existing GPs should be encouraged to stay on.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said of the findings: "We know that practices across the country are finding it really difficult to recruit GPs to fill vacant posts, and the degree to which this problem has increased over the last six years is staggering.

"In the most severe cases, not being able to recruit has forced practices to close, and this can be a devastating experience for the patients and staff affected, and the wider NHS.”

An NHS England spokeswoman said: "This miniature survey of fewer than one in 10 GP practices is statistically incapable of giving an accurate national picture on GP posts, and what's more the survey response rate was even lower than last year which further invalidates any inferences about annual trends."

Additional reporting by Press Association

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