A quarter of GP practices could close because of workload pressures, warns Royal College of GPs

General practice is on a cliff-edge with one in four practices at risk of closing, warns the Royal College of GPs as it launches a new report highlighting the current workload and workforce pressures facing GPs and their teams, and the impact these are having on patients

GPs and their hard-working staff carried out 4.6m more appointments in December 2022 and January 2023 compared to in 2019, however, the number of fully qualified full-time-equivalent GPs has dropped by 843 in the same period.

The Royal College has published Fit for the Future: GP Pressures Report 2023, setting out recommendations for Government to tackle the workforce and workload crisis in general practice, and support GPs and their teams to meet the healthcare challenges of the 21st century.

Based on a survey of more than 2,600 GPs and other practice team members from across the UK, the College’s new report acts as a snapshot of what frontline staff have faced during one of the most difficult winters experienced in the NHS, and what they think needs to happen to make general practice more sustainable. Respondents describe a profession in crisis, with unmanageable workload and workforce pressures fuelling an exodus of fully qualified GPs.

As a result, more than a quarter (26.7%) of respondents told us they feared their practice would be forced to close, with almost 90% citing unmanageable workload pressures as a reason; while 65% said it was because of a GP partner leaving and 63% said it was because of a shortage of salaried GPs.

Last autumn, the government made emergency funding available to support general practice through the winter. However, more than half (57%) of respondents to the survey said they have not accessed winter support and funding because of a lack of flexibility in what the funding can be used for, and 35% had not due to the arduous form-filling involved in applying for it.

Outdated technology and ineffective booking systems are wasting doctors’ time and making it harder for patients to choose to see the same GP or the next available member of the team. Over half (55%) of GP staff said that at least one of their appointment booking systems, either via phone or online, were not fit for purpose. Improving GP practice booking systems and IT is not a silver bullet, but can make a big difference to patient experience.

Last year, the government announced that it will publish a primary care recovery plan for England in 2023, in addition to the long-awaited NHS long term workforce plan. In today’s report, the Royal College says these plans must tackle the challenges facing primary care in both the short and long-term. Urgent measures should include a commitment to a properly funded plan to enable general practice to respond to surges in demand as they occur, investment in GP practices’ IT and telephone systems, and the support they need to implement upgrades, the urgent roll-out of new and improved, properly funded retention schemes that halt the decline in the GP workforce, a reduction in unnecessary box ticking requirements and unnecessary workload to free up GPs’ time for patient care, a new public education campaign designed by patients and healthcare professionals to advise patients when and how to self-manage illness and when to access general practice or other services.