NEWS: GP partnership numbers drop below half

As reported by GP Online, for the first time, GP partners are less than half of all GPs in England, highlighting ongoing funding and workforce challenges

This is the first time in the history of NHS general practice that partners have made up less than half the total number of fully-qualified GPs in the country – and represents a major milestone in the decline of GP partners over the past decade.

In September 2015, the earliest point at which comparable figures are available, 24,491 GPs were in partnership roles – representing 67.9% of the total at that time.

Partnership model

Doctors Association UK GP spokesperson Dr Steve Taylor told GPonline that the partnership model was not dying of its own accord, but being ‘starved to death’ by chronic underfunding.

More than 1,000 GP practices have closed over the past decade, with partners often lost to the profession each time a practice closes or merges.

The BMA has said that GP practice funding has been cut by more than 50% in real terms over the past 15 years. GP leaders have also said funding increases over the course of the five-year GP contract that began in 2019 provided a total uplift of around 11% – nowhere near the 28% needed to match inflation over the period.

A recent estimate from Lancashire and Cumbria LMCs said funding per patient for an average GP practice in England is £35 short of the level it would be at if funding had risen in line with inflation – leaving the average practice out of pocket by a staggering £350,000 in real terms.

GP partnerships ‘starved’

Dr Taylor said: ‘The partnership model is not dying – it’s being starved to death. Partnerships are being underfunded – with cuts on this level it’s no wonder people don’t want to be partners, or can’t make partnerships work financially if they do want to.

‘It’s also no wonder practices can’t afford to recruit GPs and that thousands of GPs are struggling to find work as a result.’

The BMA has warned that a fresh wave of practice closures has begun since the announcement of a sub-inflationary 1.9% uplift to GP funding through the contract imposed on the profession for 2024/25.

GPonline reported earlier this month on a highly popular, successful training practice in Cambridge whose ‘devastated’ partners were forced to hand back their contract because they simply couldn’t make ends meet financially any longer.

Dr Taylor said that in addition to existing partners being forced out by underfunding and heavy workload exacerbated by being unable to recruit more GPs, GPs were also put off by politicians’ remarks in recent years casting doubt on the future of the partnership model.

The workforce figures above are a ‘headcount’ figures – representing actual numbers of GPs who are partners, salaried or locums irrespective of whether they work full time or less than full time. In full-time equivalent (FTE) terms, GP partners still account for 58% of the total workforce in general practice because on average they work longer hours than GPs in other roles.