Brexit has overshadowed other serious problems facing this country. It is time to look at the looming danger we are facing regarding “chronic” shortage of GPs in the NHS. Official figures showed this chronic shortage of family doctors some GPs were responsible for up to 9,000 patients.
The recruitment drive may not be enough to enable the government hit its target for GPs to provide a seven-day service to the public by 2020. Azeem Majeed, professor of primary care at Imperial College London, estimates there will be a shortage of 12,100 GPs in England by the end of the decade.
NHS could not cope without our EU nationals Steve Mowle, spokesperson for the Royal College of General Practitioners, said doctors were caught in a “pincer movement”, with some “leaving the profession earlier than they might have done because of the intense pressures they are working under — and potential future GPs choosing not to enter general practice because they see how incredibly tough it is”. The organisation found in a survey that 39 per cent of doctors in England said they would be unlikely to be working in general practice in the next five years. “If things aren’t done quickly to reverse this trend, then the future of the NHS is in jeopardy,” said Mr Mowle. About 20 per cent of doctors aged 55 and over are expected to retire early in the next few years, said Candesic, a consultancy. GPs’ workload has increased 16 per cent over the past seven years as a result of the ageing population, a shift towards community care for certain illnesses, and a dearth of capacity in hospitals, said the RCGP.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “It is deeply concerning that we are seeing a drop off at each stage of doctors’ training, we have to ask why some, who have spent many years training to become a doctor, are deciding not to continue in the profession...”
In its plan for general practice published in 2016, NHS England set a target of 5000 additional general practitioners by 2020. However, no data were presented to show that this would be enough to meet the country’s needs.
In view of the pressure GPs are working and patients care going downhill. It is time for the government to take immediate action to stop further deterioration of health care. This matter should have been tackled years ago instead of imposing austerity on the NHS.
Baldev Sharma
Rayners Lane, Harrow
