- In September 2015, there were 34,592 full-time GPs across the country
- This dropped to 34,495 just a year later, the latest NHS Digital data shows
- It suggests a plan to recruit 5,000 more doctors by 2021 may not be working
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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More than 900 family doctors left the NHS last year – despite a special programme designed to eradicate the growing shortage.
Numbers of GPs across England are known to be dwindling in recent years, placing even more pressure on an over-stretched health service.
But new official figures show the problem continues to worsen, despite a special programme aimed at recruiting more doctors.
This continued crisis has left many patients at risk, with staff unable to cope with the rising demand and slashed funding, experts warn.
In September 2015, there were 34,592 full-time GPs across the country. This dropped to 34,495 just a year later, NHS Digital data shows.
Tests are available on the NHS to accurately identify unborn children with Down’s syndrome and other major genetic conditions
While the number of these doctors has fallen by 542 since last April, when the NHS adopted a plan to recruit 5,000 extra GPs by 2021, Pulse reports.
It shows the health service is falling well-short of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s pledge, which was said to be the answer to the staffing shortage.
More than £2.4 billion was set aside by the Government to plug the growing number of vacancies across the country.
This money was devised to lure GPs to move to the worst-hit areas of England, and to stop them from seeking another career.
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Dr Krishna Kasaraneni, lead for GP education training and workforce at the British Medical Association, lambasted the statistics.
She said: ‘These figures demonstrate the failure of politicians to uphold their pledges to deliver the GPs necessary to provide the number of appointments and sustainable service that patients deserve.
‘The overall number of GPs working in England has dropped since 2015, which leaves the NHS a considerable distance short of the current targets for the GP workforce.
‘There is little prospect of the promised 5,000 additional GPs materialising anytime soon.
‘This continued workforce crisis has left many GP practices unable to properly staff their surgeries at a time when local services are struggling to cope with rising patient demand and flat-lining budgets.
‘The next government must ensure that we have a properly staffed service that can meet the needs of patients.’
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said that the continued decrease ‘isn’t acceptable’.
However, provisional data for the first quarter of this year shows a slight uptake for GPs across the board.
But the number of family doctors leaving general practice in England was still more than the number joining the profession during this time.
From January to March a total of 830 GPs left general practice. But just 789 joined the profession, the data shows.
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