Current Situation in Primary Care

Posted on June 29th, 2024

Please find below some information that explains the issues we are facing in General Practice that are contributing to the crisis in Primary Care.

Dear Patient

We are experiencing a significant increase in demand for appointments, queries and prescriptions. We apologise as this can lead to a delay in answering the telephone or being able to offer appointments and advice in a timely manner.

We are trying to improve access to the surgery for you with new ways of delivering services. Whilst trying to deal with each telephone request appropriately we are limited by the lack of government investment into general practice to meet some of the time demands.

Problems faced by all practices across England:

1. The NHS budget for 2024/25 will grow by 0.2%, well below inflation.
2. Government investment in primary care has fallen from 8.9% (2015/6) to less than 7% (2014/5). This is equivalent to a 7% cut in funding.
3. Your practice receives just £107.57 per year for each patient, or 30 pence per day – less than the cost of an apple.
4. The Government and Integrated Care Boards are increasing the demand on general practice by moving more work from secondary care into the community.
5. The overall population in England is increasing – 53.5 million in 2012 to 57.1 million in 2022.
6. There are fewer GPs due to funding limits. There are 1759 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs compared to 2015. As a result, each full-time GP is responsible for 356 more patients than in 2015.
7. GPs need to supervise other clinical staff, which can reduce appointment availability.
8. People are living longer with more complex health and social care needs.
9. Some GP surgeries are having to close or merge to maintain services to patients.

We are aware that patient satisfaction with the NHS is falling, with difficulty calling GP surgeries a particular problem (satisfaction down from 67.6% in 2021 to 48.8% in 2023).

We are trying our best to provide the service our patients need, but the current staffing and funding crisis felt across general practice in England is severely restricting what we can offer in the timescales NHS England suggests.

Thank you for your understanding.