The Primary Care Workforce – An Update for the New
Millennium
The Royal College of General Practitioners was founded in 1952
with this object:
"To encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible
standards in general practice and for that purpose to take or join
with others in taking steps consistent with the charitable nature
of that object which may assist towards the same."
Among its responsibilities under its Royal Charter the College
is entitled to:
"Diffuse information on all matters affecting general practice
and issue such publications as may assist the object of the
College."
© Royal College of General Practitioners
Second edition 2000
Foreword
"Workforce issues have never had a greater priority.
Expectations on general practitioners are ratchet up. We are being
asked to be more accessible, to audit our care, to undertake
continuing professional development, to appraise each other and to
be revalidated. We are expected to decide on the future
configuration of the health service through new powerful primary
care organisations.
These increased demands come against a backdrop of problems
with recruitment, part-time general practitioners replacing
full-time retirers and a dropping retirement age. This booklet sets
out the problems clearly and offers an analysis of the scale of the
solutions. At a minimum we need 150 new entrants to general
practice for every 100 who retire. At present we scarcely break
even.
There is a need for greater understanding of our workforce
crisis among politicians, managers and the profession itself. The
Royal College of General Practitioners will continue to campaign to
improve recruitment, the quality of vocational training, the career
prospects and the working environment of general
practitioners."
Professor Mike Pringle
Chairman of Council
Royal College of General Practitioners
Preface
Since the first version of this information was published as
The Primary Care Workforce A Descriptive Analysis 3 in December
1996 there have been a significant number of changes in primary
care including the ending of the GP fundholding scheme and the
introduction of primary care groups (PCGs).4 This new version
updates some of the previous information as an aide memoir to all
those involved in planning the workforce of the future for primary
care.
For simplicity, terminology relating to England has been used
throughout this document (for example primary care groups where
local alternatives exist).
There is no evidence that the crisis in recruitment and
retention in general practice has abated. 1
There are no significant recruitment problems for GPs.
2