Working ‘part time’ in general practice is the equivalent of working full-time or more, says College

The College has hit back in response to media coverage in the Telegraph and The Times on GPs’ working hours based on the latest GP worklife survey:

Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and our teams are working under tremendous pressure - workload is escalating, yet GP numbers fell by 4.5% between September 2015 and March 2021, meaning that the ratio of patients to GPs has increased by almost 10%. GPs are burning out and we are seeing high numbers of doctors working less than full time, or being forced to leave the profession, as a result.

“Working 'part time' in general practice often means working what would normally be considered full-time, or longer, and will likely include many hours of paperwork on top of patient appointments. When GPs are working they want to be with patients, delivering care, not filling out forms and ticking boxes. This is why the College has long called for a system-wide programme to eradicate bureaucratic burdens and unnecessary workload, to prevent GP burnout and allow GPs more time to care for patients.

“GPs and our teams and our patients are on the same side - we want the same things: good, safe and appropriate access to general practice services. 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.”

Further information

(For Media only)

RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7633/7574/7575
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

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.