College responds to BMJ study showing a third of licensed GPs in England not working in NHS general practice

The RCGP responds to new BMJ study finding that one in three GPs with a licence to practise in England are not working in NHS general practice, and many newly qualified GPs are not entering the NHS workforce or are leaving within the first 10 years.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "This study shows there is no doubt about it, we need thousands more GPs – and we need to see genuine efforts to keep them working in the NHS, delivering patient care.

“In England, a fully qualified, full time GP is now responsible for the care of hundreds more patients than they were ten years ago, and it’s our patients who bear the brunt when they struggle to access our services. But despite the increasing patient need for GP care, cash-strapped practices are struggling to fund the GP roles necessary to deliver it – and many members are reporting difficulties finding appropriate work upon qualification as a result. GPs from overseas, upon completion of GP training in the UK, also report difficulties securing visas to work in NHS general practice.

“With the intense workload and workforce pressures GPs and our teams are currently working under – caused by years of underfunding and poor workforce planning - burnout is also a considerable problem, with many members telling us they plan to leave the workforce earlier than planned due to stress and unmanageable workloads.

“The Health Secretary has made welcome commitments to support general practice and deliver thousands more GPs – but we need to see just as much focus on retaining the GPs we have in the profession, as recruiting more, and we look to the forthcoming review of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to see how this will be addressed. We also want to see GPs from overseas, who have completed GP training in the UK, being given the right to apply for indefinite leave to remain, so they can work in NHS general practice without jumping through hoops.

“Being a GP can be a fantastic career and it’s encouraging that the number of medical students going into general practice is increasing, but we can’t keep pouring into a leaking bucket. As well as increasing numbers going into GP training, work needs to be done to ensure that practices have the finances to take on the GPs they need – and we need to see retention initiatives to keep qualified GPs, at all stages of their careers, in the profession.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.