Doctors are concerned about patient safety as there are too few family doctors to handle the overwhelming consultations.
According to a poll released today, nine out of ten general practitioners are concerned about patient safety since visits are too short and there are too few family doctors.
Because of the pressure, they run the danger of making mistakes or overlooking life-threatening conditions as they rush through a record-breaking number of appointments.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt will today join a group of top general practitioners in calling on the government to increase the number of people working in the NHS.
GPs are calling on the government to recruit more GPs, as 87% fear patients are not always safe at surgeries (stock photo)
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured) is joining doctors in their efforts by talking at the launch of the Rebuild General Practice campaign
Professor Martin Marshall (pictured), of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said he has never seen GP numbers as low as they currently are
The Conservative MP will speak at the launch of the Rebuild General Practice campaign, which will warn primary care is in ‘crisis’, with the NHS in England having lost almost 2,000 GPs since 2015.
The campaign’s poll of 1,395 family doctors reveals 87% fear patients are not always safe at surgeries and 70% believe the risk is increasing. Some 86% say they do not have enough time per patient and 77% think there are not enough GPs.
Doctors typically see 45 patients a day – 20 more than unions consider safe. The campaign demands 6,000 new GPs by 2024, better staff retention and reduced workloads. GPs held a record 366.7million appointments in 2021, around 6.5 for every person in the land.
Professor Martin Marshall, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said last week: ‘I’ve been a GP for just over 30 years… I’ve never seen things as low as they are now. A number of GPs I know are just constantly worried that they’re going to make a prescribing error or a diagnostic error.’
