The following is a letter from RCGP Chair Prof Martin Marshall, which was published in the Daily Telegraph today in response to a number of critical letters about general practice and the wider NHS
Sir,
NHS pressures are not confined to hospitals, and we have a very real crisis in in general practice after a decade of underinvestment.
In March 2022, general practice delivered 30m patient consultations – more than in the same month before the pandemic, and 44% on the same day they were booked. Yet more GPs are leaving the profession than are entering it, and GP burnout due to unsustainable workload is a major factor.
We simply do not have enough GPs to manage rising numbers of patients and increasing complexity of the GP caseload. We understand patients’ frustrations when they can’t get a GP appointment, but the latest evidence shows that the numbers and type of patients accessing emergency departments is largely unchanged.
GPs need our support – and government action. We need urgent investment and expansion of the GP workforce and wider practice team so that we can give our patients the safe care they need and alleviate the pressures on other parts of the NHS.
More support is also needed to ensure that patients can be discharged safely and effectively from hospitals back into the community.
Professor Martin Marshall Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners London, NW1
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