GP shortages mean some doctors seeing 60 patients per day

GPs in England are seeing, on average, around 200 more patients a year compared to 2019, according to new figures from the House of Commons Library.

Indeed, data shows that GPs saw 8,534 patients on average last year compared to 8,351 in 2019. This means the average GP sees 34 patients a day, with doctors in some areas cramming in up to 60 appointments a day.

With so many patients to see, appointment times are getting shorter, and there is a high risk that patients will miss out on the care they deserve.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, RCGP, notes that in some areas, one GP is now responsible for more than 2,500 patients. “This is not sustainable – for patients, for the wellbeing of GPs and their teams, or the wider NHS,” she said.

The RCGP says this crisis is the result of “decades of underfunding and poor workforce planning” and is urging the government to publish its primary care recovery plan and long-awaited NHS workforce plan.

A postcode lottery of care

The analysis also reveals a stark postcode lottery with a huge variation in the number of appointments per full-time GP.  North East Lincolnshire had 14,530 appointments per GP in 2022, equivalent to 58 a day, more than anywhere else in the country. This was more than double the 6,235 appointments in Liverpool, or an average of 25 per day.

Other areas with the most appointments per doctor last year include Thurrock (12,089), North East Essex (11,419), Bradford and Craven (11,074) and East Sussex (11,067).

The Liberal Democrats, who published the data, say since 2019, the number of qualified GPs has fallen by more than 800. They are now urging the Conservative party to deliver on their promise of 6,000 more doctors, so that appointments are not rushed and doctors do not suffer from burnout.

Lib Dems said they would recruit 8,000 more GPs

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “Patients around the country are bearing the brunt of the Conservative government’s failure to recruit the extra GPs we were promised.

“There is a stark postcode lottery with GP practices in some areas having to cram in dozens of appointments per doctor every day. Far too often this means patients being rushed through appointments and going without the care they deserve and which GPs are desperate to give.

“It is also leading to a vicious cycle as burnt out doctors leave the profession, worsening the GP shortage and making it even harder to get an appointment.

“Liberal Democrats want to recruit 8,000 more GPs, so that people can be guaranteed an appointment within a week when they need one.”