Norfolk GP calling on Govt. to recruit more and reduce work hours to avoid staff exodus
National research shows around a third of GPs are likely to quit the profession within the next five years
A Norfolk GP is calling on the Government to recruit more doctors and reduce work hours to avoid a mass exodus of staff locally.
It's after national research showed that around a third of GPs are likely to quit the profession within the next five years, due to falling job satisfaction and recognition
Dr Tim Morton, is chairman of the Norfolk and Waveney Local Medical Committee.
He told us the Government must act on these findings: "This a wake-up call to the pressures facing General Practice.
"We're facing mounting work-loads and reducing staff numbers. Unless something is done in a more positive way we will see these pressures increasing and the exodus from General Practice reach an unsustainable rate.
"Part of the survey recognised that there was great dissatisfaction with lack of recognition of their work both from Government and on Social Media. I would call on both the NHS and the Government to serious take note of this survey and act upon it."
"This shows the increasing pressures that General Practice has faced"
He went onto tell us the Government have not delivered on their 2015 promise to recruit 8,000 new GPs and focussed on the wrong things: "Currently we are at two thousand GPs less than that target.
"This shows the increasing pressures that General Practice has faced. It's been amazing that General Practice has managed to provide such services in the last two year of the pandemic.
"They have been at the heart of the vaccination service and dealt with many, many more consultations and it was disappointing that the Government sort to highlight face to face consultation that were a distraction from the real work that was going on".
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are working to support and grow the general practice workforce, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
“In December 2021 there were over 1,600 more doctors working in general practice compared to 2019 and a record-breaking number started training as GPs last year.
“We have invested £520 million to expand GP capacity during the pandemic, on top of £1.5 billion until 2024, and we are making 4,000 GP training places available each year, to help create an extra 50 million appointments annually.”