BMA: Service output data is a testament to GPs but the workforce must be addressed

The British Medical Association (BMA) have addressed recent data from the ONS and again called for more support

New ONS data has shown that UK services output grew in May 2022 with human health and social work activities growing by 2.1%, mainly because of a large rise in GP appointments.

The chair of GPC (general practitioners committee) England at the BMA, Dr Farah Jameel, said the following:

“These figures are yet another example of how hard GPs and their teams are working, but also why we desperately need more resource to close the workforce gap in primary care.

“It’s clear that GP services are good value for money – GPs are not paid extra for doing more work, and yet, the number of standard GP appointments booked has substantially increased, with 24m appointments in April 2022 jumping to a staggering 27.6m in May.

“However, we cannot ignore the fact that this is not a sustainable way of working, and that GPs desperately need more support if they’re going to be able to carry on providing this level of care. We don’t have enough of them, and each time a GP takes on more work, they open themselves up to more stress, burn out, and exhaustion – potentially having to reduce their hours or leave the profession altogether. This creates a viscous cycle of even fewer GPs, and ultimately threatens safe patient care.

 “Our new health secretary has the opportunity to put right the wrongs done to general practice, and the wider NHS, by giving it the appropriate funding and resources it so desperately needs to close the growing workforce gap and safely meet patient demand. All doctors want to do is give the best care they can, but without proper support, this is becoming increasingly hard to do.”