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General practice had its busiest November on record last year with four million more GP appointments a month being delivered for patients compared to the same month before the pandemic, yet with 646 fewer fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs.
New NHS data published today shows more than 31.4 million appointments (excluding vaccinations) were delivered by GP practices in November 2023.
More than two fifths (42.6%) of appointments were booked and attended on the same day, up 3.3% on the previous month and almost seven in ten appointments were attended within seven days of booking, up 4.5% on the previous month. Other appointments such as vaccinations and routine follow up appointments are booked further in advance.
The RCGP said that the latest figures show that GPs and their teams are working harder than ever to make sure patients receive the care and services they need under really difficult circumstances. Yet they still have fewer qualified, full-time equivalent GPs than before the pandemic – and they need practical action to address this.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The average number of patients per GP in England is now an eye watering 2,290, meaning each GP is responsible for 147 more patients than in December 2019.
“Without significant investment in general practice and efforts ramped up to increase the GP workforce, especially into keeping the GPs we already have in the profession for longer, meeting the increasing demand for care will be an incredible challenge. Our manifesto outlines seven solutions – including appropriate resource allocation for recruitment and retention – that will help improve patient access to safe and timely care and ensure that there are enough GPs to safeguard the future of general practice and the wider NHS.”
Government set a range of measures to boost access to general practice
The NHS set out a range of measures in May last year to boost access to general practice for patients including more ways to access care for common conditions from high street pharmacies. The action is expected to free up to 10 million GP appointments a year by next winter and, with 80% of people in England living within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy, the move will give the public more choice in where and how they access care.
As part of the ambitious blueprint, investment in better phone technology for GP teams has meant that eight in ten GP practices have already upgraded their telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact them with the remaining practices signed up to make the move by March.
Dr Amanda Doyle, NHS England National Director for Primary Care and Community Services, said: “The NHS published a plan last year to improve access to GP services, which includes upgrading telephone systems to make it easier for people to contact their general practice while more than 34,000 additional staff have joined GP teams since 2019 to deliver even more appointments.
“This is incredible progress from hardworking teams across the country and we are determined to make it easier to access services around people’s busy lives.”