Patients in England are finding it impossible to get a GP
appointment, after a decade of Tory mismanagement of the NHS
has left England with almost 4,500 fewer GPs than a decade ago.
Analysis of NHS data shows there were 32,200 GPs in 2013, which
has fallen to 27,700 today, a reduction of 4,459 GPs.
In their 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives promised to hire 6,000
more GPs, but , the Health Secretary, has
since admitted that the government is breaking its promise. Since
the Conservatives made that promise at the general election, more
than 300 GP practices have closed.
The findings come as Labour calls a debate on the crisis in
primary care in Britain, tabling a motion calling on the Health
Secretary to bring forward a plan to recruit the doctors which
were promised at the last election.
The debate will also see the Health Secretary pushed to take
action on the crisis in NHS dentistry. Data from the NHS shows
that, on average, 78 children in England under the age of 11 go
to hospital for teeth extraction every day, as dentists leave the
NHS in droves.
2,000 dentists quit the NHS last year, around 10% of all dentists
employed in England. An estimated 4 million people can’t access
NHS care and counties like Somerset are being described as
‘dentistry deserts’, because remaining NHS dentists aren’t taking
on new patients. According to the British Dentistry Association,
emergency teeth extractions are now the most common reason for
children to go to hospital.
, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care
Secretary, said:
“People are finding it impossible to get a GP appointment when
they need one, leaving them in pain and discomfort and meaning
serious conditions will be missed.
“As the Culture Secretary recently admitted, a decade of
Conservative mismanagement left our NHS ‘wanting and inadequate’
before Covid hit. Now the Conservatives are breaking their
promise to hire the GPs we need.
“The Conservatives are overseeing an exodus of dentists from the
NHS, leaving people who can’t afford to go private unable to get
any care at all.
“The longer we give the Conservatives, the longer patients wait.
Labour will put patients first and make sure they can be seen on
time.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- April 2022 - 27,743 FTE Fully qualified GPs (excludes GPs in
Training Grade)
2013 – 32,201 FTE Fully qualified GPs (excludes GPs in Training
Grade)
A loss of 4,459 GPs (14% fall)
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services
- There were 6,837 GP practices in England in November 2019,
and the latest figures show there are 6,536 practices as of April
2022, a cut of 301 GP practices.
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/appointments-in-general-practice/april-2022
- Around 1 in every 10 dentists in England quit last year,
leaving 4 million people unable to access an NHS dentist.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/01/dental-deserts-form-in-england-as-dentists-quit-nhs-experts-warn
- The BDA have warned that the most common reason for children
ending up in hospital today is for tooth extraction.
https://news.sky.com/story/dentist-crisis-people-unable-to-get-nhs-treatment-resorting-to-desperate-measures-to-stop-pain-12625429
- 85,957 children aged 0-10 years have attended hospital for
teeth extraction in the past three years, an average of 78
children a day.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hospital-tooth-extractions-of-0-to-19-year-olds-2021
