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The number of qualified GPs has dropped to its lowest level on record and just one in four family doctors work full time, according to official data that highlights the ‘catastrophic’ crisis in general practice.
There were around 27,500 fully-qualified, permanent family doctors working for England last month, down from about 28,000 in June 2021 and 1,500 fewer than five years ago.
The figure comes despite ‘s 2019 manifesto pledge to increase GP numbers by 6,000 by 2024.Ministers have since admitted that target will not be met.
Health bosses have warned the crippling workforce shortages, combined with unprecedented demand for a GP following the pandemic, has created an untenable situation that threatens patient safety.
Meanwhile, just 23 per cent of permanent NHS GPs work 37.5 hours or more a week, a drop from one third in five years.It follows research showing most family doctors now only work three days or less a week.
Patients have struggled to secure appointments or see a doctor face-to-face, which has seen some desperate people resort to turning up at A&E.
Separate figures suggest other NHS staff are increasingly picking up the burden as GPs wrestle staffing problems.
Data for June shows fewer than half of all appointments were carried out by qualified doctors. The rest were seen by other staff, including nurses, physiotherapists and even acupuncturists.
Nearly one in five appointments nationally lasted five or fewer minutes last month, in what campaign groups said was a sign GP surgeries have turned into ‘revolving door’ practices in an effort to get patients in and out as fast possible to get through huge workloads.
Appointments are meant to last no less than 10 minutes according to NHS best practice, job while unions have pushed to increase the time to 15 minutes to ensure ‘quality of care’.
Meanwhile, around 65 per cent of appointments were made face-to-face during the month, down from nearly 80 per cent before the pandemic.
There were just 27,558 full-time equivalent, fully-qualified GPs working in England last month, down 1.6 per cent on the 18,000 recorded in June 2021.It was down 5.3 per cent on the more than 29,000 working in June 2017
Meanwhile, separate figures today showed less than half of all appointments made last month saw patients seen by qualified doctors.Nearly 47 per cent of patients were seen by nurses or other staff, which can include acupuncturists and physiotherapists
One in six appointments in the country lasted up to just five minutes last month, with even higher proportions seen in some areas of the country.NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board saw 20 per cent of patients in five minutes or less
Increasing numbers of doctors are reducing their working hours and retiring early, while some are leaving to the private sector or abroad because of the huge increases in pressure put on them.
The NHS Digital data shows the number of full-time equivalent GPs that are fully qualified have dropped to its lowest level since records began in September 2015.
All figures are based on the number of full-time equivalent posts in the GP workforce, and do not include trainees or locums.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox health halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-a2c771b0-0e6c-11ed-9b87-d773241b15cf" website staff numbers fall to lowest level on record