- The health service lost 445 full-time doctors from September to December
- It exposes the ‘deepening crisis’ in surgeries struggling to meet demands
- NHS boss Simon Stevens will unveil plans tomorrow to improve the service
- The ‘dreadful’ figures have been slammed by a number of health experts
Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail
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Almost 150 GPs are quitting the NHS every month despite a government pledge to hire 5,000 by 2020.
The health service lost 445 full-time doctors in the three months from September to December, figures revealed last night.
Experts said the fall exposed the ‘deepening crisis’ in surgeries that are struggling to meet the demands of the rising, ageing population.
Almost 150 GPs are quitting the NHS every month despite a government pledge to hire 5,000 by 2020 (file image)
NHS boss Simon Stevens is expected to unveil plans tomorrow to improve the health service, including proposals for surgeries to work more closely together to provide evening and weekend appointments.
But MPs and medical professionals say these plans are ‘light years away’ as the health service is so short of GPs.
Figures from NHS Digital show there were 34,050 full-time GPs in December 2016, down from 34,495 in September 2016 – a drop of 1.3 per cent.
The data only goes back to September 2015 – before then it was collected differently – when there were 34,592 full-time GPs.
NHS boss Simon Stevens is expected to unveil plans tomorrow to improve the health service
The drop in numbers comes amid widespread demoralisation over increasing workloads and bureaucracy. Many doctors leave the NHS for private practice or jobs overseas, and some quit the profession altogether.
Two years ago the Government promised to hire an extra 5,000 doctors by 2020 to drive down waiting times and provide out-of-hours appointments. A series of drastic measures was introduced, including golden hellos worth £20,000 for trainee GPs to take up unpopular jobs.
Ministers also pledged to slash red tape and raise salaries.
But doctors’ leaders said the Government is still not doing enough to attract new GPs or stop existing ones retiring.
Despite the overall decline, the number of women GPs is on the rise and they may soon outnumber men.
There are now 15,136 full-time women family doctors, up from 14,904 in September 2015. This compares with 15,242 male doctors, down from 15,427 over the same period.
The rising proportion of women may create problems in the future as many go part-time after having children.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said the overall decline in GP numbers was ‘dreadful.’
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Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb has slammed the figures as being ‘light years’ away from the Government’s target
‘These figures are a huge blow,’ she added. ‘We need to turn the tide. The future of the health service and patient care relies on having a robust general practice.’ Dr Krishna Kasaraneni, of the British Medical Association, said: ‘The NHS is at breaking point and it is not acceptable for this crisis to be allowed to get worse.’
Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said: ‘These figures show we are light years away from the Government’s aim to train and recruit an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020.’
The Department of Health said: ‘We remain committed to an extra 5,000 doctors in general practice by 2020. We currently have the highest number of GPs in training than ever before.’
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