Responding to new data from Pulse that shows nearly 800 GP
practices have closed in the last 8 years: Professor Martin
Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said:
“That nearly 800 GP practices have closed over the last eight
years – almost 100 in the last year during the pandemic – is a
concern and likely to be distressing for the millions of patients
who have lost the practice they are familiar with. Some of the
closures will be due to practices merging, or working in
different ways, but some practices will have had no choice but to
close due to intense workforce and workload pressures – and this
must be addressed urgently.
“General practice was dealing with unsustainable workload, and
practices were struggling to recruit sufficient numbers of GPs
and practice staff to handle it, before the pandemic. The
pandemic has only exacerbated these pressures. This has resulted
in GPs feeling burnt out and leaving the profession before they
planned to and has forced some practices to close for good.
“The latest data from NHS Digital shows that GPs and their teams
are working harder than ever, with 5m more consultations
delivered in March than February – and more than 2.25m more in
March this year than in 2019 before the pandemic. They are at the
forefront of helping communities recover from the pandemic,
caring for patients whose physical and mental health has been
directly or indirectly affected by Covid-19 – and are playing a
leading role in the Covid vaccination programme, with 75% of
vaccines administered in primary care in England.
“Closing a practice will be a difficult decision for any GP who
has to make it. The decision will have implications for the
patients the practice serves and colleagues at neighbouring
practices. It is a decision that will only be made as a last
resort.
“This is why the intense resource and workforce pressures facing
GPs and our teams need addressing urgently. We need to see
initiatives in place to prevent GPs from burning out, as well as
further efforts to recruit doctors to the profession and keep
existing, experienced GPs on the frontline. We need to be able to
manage the increasing workload pressures facing the profession,
and keep practices open, so we can continue to deliver the
high-quality care and access to services that our patients rely
on us for.”
