GPs across Dorset see 11% rise in number of patients signing up
A Poole GP tells us demand has reached ‘record highs’ while moral is at an ‘all-time low’
A new study for Dorset has found the number of GP practices per 1,000 patients has fallen by 15%.
It comes as the number of people who registered with an NHS GP practice across the county soared by 11%.
Experts suggest population increase and the loss of ten practices in Dorset since 2020 is to blame.
Poole GP, Andy Purbrick told us: “We've got patients living longer, with more complex illnesses and longer-term conditions.
“We're also now required to follow up more appointments and then we've got the impact of hospital waiting times and pressures in other areas, such as social care, so we get the transfer of that workload.”
According to doctors, patients are seeing GPs “more than they ever used to”, in fact in Dorset the figure has risen by 32% since 2020.
Experts now fear there will be a “tipping point” in the near future where the majority of appointments in English general practice are no longer delivered by GPs.
Mr Purbrick said: “The working environment is the busiest I've ever known, for example, the British Medical Association estimate that 25 patient contacts a day is a ‘safe number,’ but we've got practices where each GP is seeing up to 50 patients a day, that's clearly not sustainable and doesn't feel safe.”
And he warns while demand has reached ‘record highs’ moral is at an ‘all-time low’.
While the headcount of GPs in NHS general practice has marginally increased, when you factor in reported working hours and the growing population, the total number of full-time GPs per 1,000 patients has fallen.
“The government need to see how GPs are the solution to the pressures faced across the health service,” Mr Purbrick added. “90% of patient contacts occur in general practice and yet, we receive only receive 7% of NHS’ total budget.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "The NHS is broken and these findings show how much general practice has been neglected, but this government will fix it by shifting the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community.”