GP leaders stark warning of existential crisis as demand outstrips capacity

Dr Hilary Jones suggests fining people for missed GP appointments

General practice is “standing on the brink of an existential crisis”, the chair of the Royal College of GPs has told the body’s annual conference in Glasgow.

Professor Kamila Hawthore delivered a damning assessment of the current state of primary care, warning that the job of a full-time family doctor has become “largely unmanageable”.

And she urged political party leaders to commit to investment and urgent action to grow the workforce ahead of the next election.

Prof Hawthorne said: “The sad fact is that the job of a full-time GP is now largely unmanageable, and even working what is called ‘part time’ in general practice usually means working what would normally be considered by other people as full-time.

“Arbitrary access targets make good sound bites for politicians and might win votes in the short-term, but our patients and our GPs deserve better.”

The RCGP has issued repeated warnings that demand is outstripping capacity, leading to long waiting times for consultations.

Latest NHS data shows almost 28.2 million GP appointments were made in August, up from 26.5 million during the same month last year.

Prof Hawthorne also outlined the college’s recommendations to improve the state of care. These include a national alert system to raise the alarm when workloads become unsafe and enable surgeries to access additional support.

Other suggested measures include “bold action” to boost GP numbers, more funding for deprived communities, and the cutting of red tape so GPs spend less time on “unnecessary bureaucracy”.

Prof Horthorne told delegates: “My message today to any future government, regardless of what it looks like, is: ‘The destruction of general practice and the demonisation of hard-working GPs and their teams must stop’.

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“It’s denigrating and demoralising for existing GPs, it deters trainees and would-be trainees from choosing GP specialty training and becoming GPs – and it’s deeply damaging to the unique and trusted relationship that we have with our patients.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our £1.2 billion Primary Care Recovery Plan set out how we will address the challenges facing the sector by recruiting more staff – including those providing direct patient care such as physiotherapists, using the latest technology, freeing up GP time by funding pharmacists to do more and reducing workload by cutting bureaucracy.

“Thanks to the hard work of GPs and practice staff our plan is working, with 78,200 more appointments per working day in August 2023 than there were last year.

“Our £240million of funding to support practices to embrace the latest technology will help beat the 8am rush and we have more than 2,000 additional doctors and 31,000 extra staff than in 2019.

“We are also working with NHS England and the profession on retention by addressing the reasons why GPs leave the profession and improving their working environment.”

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