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GPs report a ‘visible increase’ this year in the number of patients presenting to primary care with problems linked to poverty and the cost-of-living crisis.
A survey by the Royal College of GPs found that seven out of ten GPs are seeing a ‘worrying’ rise in the number of patients asking for support with non medical items, including access to council services and financial advice.
In addition, 93% of GP respondents said that the rising number of patients needing support with the cost of living could limit their ability to provide the medical care that patients need.
College Chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said this is also having a knock-on effect on the health and wellbeing of GPs, who are already under enormous workload and workforce pressures.
The College says the findings make it ‘imperative’ for the government to reform funding formulas to better support practices in more deprived areas. This means adapting the existing range of funding pots to make them flexible to meet local needs and account for levels of deprivation to help deal with growing health inequalities.
GPs witness daily the devastating health effects of poverty
Professor Kamila Hawthorne added: “We hear a lot in the press about the rising cost of living, but our survey results show the tangible and worrying impact that this is having on our patients’ health, and on the dedicated GPs who are caring for them.
“Our GPs witness daily the devastating health effects that the rising cost of living and spiraling deprivation is having on patients in many communities across the UK. The link between poverty and worsening health has long been established, taking a physical, emotional, and psychological toll which can result in the early development, or exacerbation of existing multiple chronic conditions. We’re also seeing patients with diseases that should have been confined to the annals of history – malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies and even rickets – presenting in many GP surgeries across the UK.
“GPs are doctors, not financial advisers or housing officers, but we are often the first ports of call in a crisis. Through links to social prescribing, general practice can and does offer a vital lifeline to many of the most vulnerable in society.
“GPs fully understand how social factors cause health inequalities and from there, serious problems in physical and mental health, but because they often have no power to make the changes needed, they are unable to offer solutions to their patients which get to the root of the problem. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that the areas most affected receive the least support to tackle the crisis.”