GP leaders yesterday warned the government that its plans to recruit 5,000 new GPs and introduce seven-day opening are undeliverable, as new figures show one in five GP trainee posts in England are currently unfilled.
The figures released by the GP National Recruitment Office show that for the 2015 GP recruitment round:
• 632 places are currently unfilled, meaning that around one in five GP trainee places are unfilled.
• There are vacancies in all parts of England, but there are significant regional variations with the North and the Midlands having higher numbers of unfilled posts than the South.
• In the North East almost half of GP trainee posts are vacant, with over one in four empty in the East Midlands and around a third unfilled in Wessex, the West Midlands and the North West.
Commenting, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA GP committee chair, said: ‘These figures lay bare the huge scale of the crisis facing GP services and patient care. More than 600 GP trainee places are unfilled across the country with deeply concerning shortages in the Midlands and the North of England, especially the North East where half of these posts are empty.
‘The failure to recruit new GPs is happening at the same time as a third of existing GPs are intending to retire in the next five years. GP practices are rapidly facing a situation where they do not have either new or experienced GPs to deliver enough appointments to patients and maintain high quality services. With medical graduates turning their backs on general practice, there is no sign that the government will be able to fulfil its pledge to recruit 5,000 GPs and open all surgeries seven days a week.
‘Whatever the rhetoric, on the ground these plans are completely undeliverable. The government needs to stop burying its head in the sand and address the real issues facing the GP workforce. Ministers need to undertake a sustained, long-term programme of investment in general practice that gives GP services the ability to cope with rising patient demand and makes it an attractive career option for all medical graduates. Most importantly, we need our political leaders to focus on getting current services right, rather than making ludicrous promises that are at total odds with reality.’
• The demand for hospital services is soaring, according to official data from NHS England. It has reported increases in emergency ambulance call-outs, A&E admissions, emergency admissions, diagnostic tests and treatments. NHS England acknowledged the increases were part of a continuing trend. The long-term trend is one of greater volumes of both urgent and emergency care and elective activity,’ it said.
The data up to June 2015 shows that in the past year:
• Ambulance calls-outs were up 7% on the previous 12 months.
• A&E attendances were up 1.1%.
• Emergency admissions were up 2.7%.
• Diagnostic tests were up 5.8%.
• Consultant-led treatments were up 5.1%.
The pressures on A&E do appear to be easing slightly with 94.8% of patients being dealt with within four hours.
