Royal College chairman: NHS will fail if GPs continue to collapse

According to a survey, one in four employees in GP practices fears that their practice will be closed due to stressed doctors.

Unmanageable workloads will drive medics out of the job, concerned workers told the Royal College of GPs.

Almost 850 doctors have given up their general practice since 2019.

And demand from patients is so high that remaining GPs are getting sick themselves, warned Royal College Chair Prof Kamila Hawthorne.

“I’ve heard from my co-workers who were so stressed out during their workdays that they got chest pains and needed to be seen,” she said.

“When you’re treating 40 to 60 patients a day and making so many clinical decisions, it’s extremely stressful and worrying because each of those clinical decisions is important.”

A previous college survey found that four in 10 family doctors are seriously considering leaving the profession in five years. And according to the latest findings, she warned: “The family doctor’s practice is in crisis. We cannot rely on short-term emergency funding.

“Without a functioning basic service, the NHS will fail.”

Prof Hawthorne called the situation “extremely worrying” and added: “We are seeing more patients than ever before. And yet the GP numbers keep going down.’

The Department of Health said there were 400 more GPs than a year ago, more appointments and a record number of trainees. It added it was working to encourage doctors to return.

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