GPs want new Government to focus on GP recruitment

Exclusive More recruitment of GPs is the highest priority for the next Government – according to GPs.

Out of around 400 GPs responding to Pulse publisher Cogora’s State of Primary Care survey, 61% ranked this as a top priority (on a 1-5 scale from ‘low priority’ to ‘high priority’).

The issue of GP recruitment was followed in importance by ‘better pay for all NHS staff’, which over half of respondents (51%) said was of the highest priority.

Nearly half (43%) also said more recruitment of general practice nurses was of the highest importance for whichever party wins the general election next week (4 July).

Dr Steven Jones, a GP in Coventry, said: ‘There’s just not enough properly trained staff to meet demand. I’m told that where I work we are over-doctored, yet phone lines open 8am and there are no appointments available by 8.10am. People are queuing at 8am, 100-people deep to get an appointment.’

A GP in Devon said: ‘We need to stop the haemorrhage of staff and achieve better support for primary care in the media. We need to get the public on board with our NHS and realise that we in general practice are not twiddling our thumbs. We can’t work harder!’

One GP survey respondent said: ‘GP is a fixed-income business predicated upon efficiency. Until more money is put into the system all we can do is replace retiring GPs. If Government added one GP per 10,000 patients, above baseline, that would be 6,000 new GPs. 

‘This would also require £750m p.a., 0.2p added to base rate of income tax – otherwise it is irrelevant how many extra GPs are available, we can’t pay them.’

Recently, the focus on GP recruitment has shifted to a narrative of GPs being left unemployed because PCNs are barred from using their additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) funding to hire doctors.

Another GP respondent said: ‘This is an issue largely of our own making. If GPs and their representative bodies hadn’t painted such a gloomy picture – talking down our profession – then the recruiting crisis would not have happened, and NHS England would not have needed to come up with ARRS as a solution.’

Least important to GPs was AI-driven care. Only 9% ranked this as a high-priority issue to focus on, while nearly a third (32%) said it was of the lowest priority.

GP leaders voiced their concerns regarding the developing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in general practice at last month’s UK LMC conference.

Notably, GPs responding to the survey were also less interested in ‘driving forward neighbourhood teams’, as per the Fuller stocktake recommendation NHS England has signed up to.

Over a quarter of GPs (28%) said this was of the lowest priority; while only around one in 10 (12%) marked it as a top priority.

Recently, North West London commissioners were forced to delay and amend plans to launch same-day hubs that would have removed urgent care from practices, amid a backlash from patients and GPs.

One issue that proved divisive in the primary care survey among GPs was the priority of the new government ‘scrapping PCNs’.

Over one third (34% said scrapping PCNs was of the highest priority; however over one in five (22%) said it was of the lowest priority.

The scrapping of PCNs has been BMA GP Committee policy since 2022, with a focus on bringing back the associated funding into core general practice.

The results are part of a wider survey on the State of Primary Care, with responses from over 1,700 healthcare professionals, carried out by Pulse publisher Cogora.

The full results of the survey will inform a report due out in the coming days.