GP availability

[baggiematt]

In 2015, the Tory Government said they would train and hire 5000 new GPs by 2020 (I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was an election pledge in that years GE)

By 2020, GP numbers did not increase by 5000, but the 2015 number had fallen by 4.5%.

The vast majority of GPs are well into their 50s, I've read somewhere that only 1% of GPs are aged 30 or under. Health funding cuts by the Tories have exasperated the situation. An ageing workforce, who probably didn't want to be around ill people during the pandemic too. And if you speak to a GP or listen to their Union reps, they say they are burned out and overworked.

I can only see this issue getting worse.

I get where you are coming from but figures are mildly misleading. It takes 10 years to become a GP post college. 5 years med school, 2 Foundation years and then 3 years GP trainee scheme. Lots take a year out either before or after medical school so I would expect only 1% being under thirty.

There has been a shift in healthcare strategy since 2015 with more practices recruiting Physician Associates and Nurse Practitioners. Very capable of diagnosis but often easier to recruit.

I’m not mad on the Tories given behavioural issues but the NHS is a mess regardless of who is in charge. It is purely too big and complicated to be fully nationalised in my opinion.