GP pressures felt across the country

Responding to research commissioned by the Lib Dems and covered in the Daily Mail on increasing patient-GP ratios, with the average GP now responsible for the care of 2,000 patients.

Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said:

“GPs and our teams are working under tremendous pressure. As these figures show, the ratio of patients to GPs has increased significantly, meaning workload in general practice is escalating, yet GP numbers fell by 4.5% between September 2015 and March 2021.

“The intense workforce and workload pressures in general practice are being felt across the country, but some areas - often more deprived areas, and where patients have more health needs - are feeling it more than others. GPs are burning out and being forced to leave the profession, as a result.

“Patients should have good, safe and appropriate access to GP care and services wherever they live. We need to see the Government make good on its promise of 6,000 more GPs and 26,000 more members of the practice team – as well as introducing measures to tackle ‘undoable’ workload in general practice - and for these efforts to be targeted at areas that need them most.

Further information

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RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7633/7574/7575
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Notes to editor

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 52,000 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.