- At 543 practices 90 per cent of the GPs are over 60 and soon to retire
- The problem has been worsened by younger GPs quitting to work abroad
- Waiting times to see a GP have been slammed as a ‘national disgrace’Â
Sophie Borland for the Daily Mail
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More than 500 surgeries could close in England over the next year because so many GPs are about to retire, senior doctors warn.
The Royal College of GPs says that thousands of patients will have to travel to the next town and waiting times at these practices will rise further.
Figures from the college identify 543 practices where more than 90 per cent of the GPs are over 60 and likely to retire imminently. But there is a severe shortage of younger doctors to replace them as the career becomes unpopular.
More than 500 surgeries could close in England over the next year because so many GPs are about to retire, senior doctors have warned
Earlier this week David Cameron promised everyone would be able to see their family doctor seven days a week by 2020, as long as the Tories are still in power.
But senior GPs warned that the plans would not work as there are too few doctors to man surgeries at weekends.
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Tomorrow college president Dr Maureen Baker will warn that in future practices will have to ‘close their doors’ to patients. Addressing its annual conference in Liverpool, she is expected to say: ‘Every practice closed is a loss to a local community.
‘Not only do patients lose out, but it piles more pressure on neighbouring practices, swelling patient lists already bursting at the seams.
‘With a growing, ageing population, not to mention a baby boom, we need to increase capacity in general practice, not take it away. If this was a business it would be expanding to meet demand – not shutting down services.’
Figures from the college identify 543 practices where more than 90 per cent of the GPs are over 60 and likely to retire imminently; the problem has been worsened by younger GPs quitting to work abroad or re-training in different careers
Normal retirement age in the NHS is 60 but the average for GPs is 59 as many leave early due to the demands of the job.Â
The problem has been worsened by younger GPs quitting to work abroad or re-training in different careers.Â
GPs say they are not being given enough money by the Government to deal with the demands of a rising, ageing population. Some surgeries are so overwhelmed they have begun striking patients off their lists to ease the pressure.
Last week Dr Baker admitted waiting times to see a GP were a ‘national disgrace’. Today she will compare GP services to a ‘dam’ that protects hospitals from becoming ‘flooded’ with patients.
She will say: ‘So far much of the damage to the dam wall has been hidden from the public – they see the flooding downstream in accident and emergency departments and in hospital pressures, but they haven’t been aware that GPs, nurses and practice teams have been absorbing that pressure by trying to do more and more with less and less.
‘But if we let that situation continue we will see whole chunks of the dam fall apart when practices have to shut their doors.’
Earlier this week Steve Field, of the Care Quality Commission, warned that some surgeries were putting patients at risk due to basic failings. He said standards at 2 per cent of practices – equivalent to 160 surgeries nationwide – were ‘very worrying’.
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