RCGP warns of a 'mass exodus' of GPs within five years

Nearly a third of GPs are unlikely to be working in general practice in five years’ time according to an alarming poll from the Royal College of GPs.

Stress was identified as the main factor forcing GPs to consider leaving the profession. It was cited by nearly half (44%) of respondents thinking about cutting their careers short, whilst 39% planned to leave to retire.

According to the RCGP’s annual GP Voice survey of more than 2,100 active GPs and GP registrars, unmanageable stress is so prevalent among GPs that more than a quarter (28%) reported that at least once a week they feel so stressed that they cannot cope.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said:
"Nobody goes into general practice for an easy ride, but the fact that so many GPs feel so stressed and are worried about the impact this is having on their patients shows just how precarious the situation in general practice has become. It requires urgent action.”

The College has identified excessive workloads and high levels of unnecessary bureaucracy as some of the primary reasons for the unmanageable stress facing GPs. This has consequences for patient care with nearly three quarters (73%) of GPs reporting that patient safety is being compromised by their workload pressures and fewer than 30% saying that they have enough time during consultations to provide high quality care.

In the last year GPs and their teams delivered a record breaking 386 million appointments¹, equivalent to more than a million a day, and an increase of over 80 million from 2019. However, escalating workload has not been matched with the GP workforce needed to deliver this extra care - there are currently only 387 more fully qualified, full-time GPs than at the end of 2019².

Over this same period, the number of registered patients for GPs in England has grown by over 3.7 million meaning that on average a GP is now responsible for 2,241 patients².

The GP Voice survey found that over half (58%) of GPs planning to leave said a reduction in administrative workload would make them more likely to stay in the profession, followed by a reduction in clinical workload (43%) and making the role of GP partners less risky (40%).

The College is therefore calling on the Government to ensure that the forthcoming 10-Year Workforce Plan puts numbers on its commitment to increase the GP workforce, with a clear roadmap to train, recruit and retain the GPs needed to deliver safe and timely care for patients.

This must come alongside sustained measures to reduce the administrative burden on GPs including a full integration of digital systems across the NHS and allowing specialists to refer patients across to other specialists, instead of going back through their GP team.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: "The 10-year Health Plan includes encouraging proposals to help alleviate pressure on general practice, but the findings of this survey show the extent of the crisis we're facing. We’re losing too many highly-trained, often very experienced GPs, from the front line of patient care – and we need to see that the Government has a grasp on how to reverse this.

"General practice is the bedrock of the NHS, GPs and our teams are responsible for the vast majority of patient contacts, for a relatively small percentage of the overall health service budget. We deliver care closer to home for our patients where they want it, and this in turn alleviates pressures across the NHS, including in A&E, where it is more expensive to deliver.

“Moving more care into the community makes sense, but we need to see this aspiration backed up by clear commitments to properly resource general practice and ensure it has the GPs needed. We’re expecting to see the reformed 10-year Workforce Plan soon – and we urge the Government to use it as an opportunity to show how it will deliver on commitments of ‘thousands’ more GPs, not only through recruitment but through retention.

“We also need to ensure GPs don’t have their precious time with patients being eaten into by bureaucracy. Allowing specialists to refer patients directly to other specialists when appropriate, rather than requiring GPs to re-refer, would lessen the administrative burden and a fully integrated digital system would improve access to information and communication across the system, while minimising errors and duplication."

Further information

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

Notes to editors

Savanta was commissioned by RCGP to deliver this survey. The survey was in field between 28 July 2025 and 20 August 2025, and it received a total of 2,316 responses from across the UK.

1. NHS Digital data reported that between October 2024 and September 2025 GPs In England delivered over 386 million appointments.
2. NHS Digital data reported that in September 2025 there were 28,516 fully qualified FTE GPs and 63,916,318 patients in comparison to 28,129 GPs and 60,202,166 patients in December 2019 in England.

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.