Hundreds of GPs gearing up to leave, finds survey

  The crisis in general practice in England is set to worsen — 46 per cent of practices report they have GPs who are planning to retire or leave the NHS. A BMA survey has found that practices are facing a toxic cocktail of soaring demand, problems with recruitment and retention and financial challenges. The results are highlighted in a series of ‘heatmaps’ of parliamentary constituencies showing the worst-affected areas, launched as part of the BMA’s Urgent Prescription for General Practice campaign. BMA GPs committee chair Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘GP practices are facing this dire situation because they are being overwhelmed by rising patient demand, cuts to funding, staff shortages and more unfunded work being moved from hospitals into the community. ‘Given these pressures it is unsurprising that GPs are considering leaving the NHS while new medical graduates are turning their backs on careers as GPs — a situation undoubtedly worsened by the Government’s appalling handling of the junior doctor contract.’   Rescue package He added: ‘With hundreds of GP practices facing financial uncertainty, and close to 300 practices facing possible closure, we need the Government to act urgently to deliver a comprehensive rescue package that safeguards GP services for patients.’ Around one in 10 practices reported that their finances were so weak that they were financially unsustainable, while a further fifth said t...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news