A new survey of GP locums has revealed that the majority have unused capacity, the BMA reports.
- Some 56% of GPs say they want to work more hours in the NHS but cannot find suitable opportunities.
- Some 60% of GPs say they have also experienced a decline in pay rates for GP work over the past year, raising stress and anxiety amongst a workforce who feel under-used.
- The vast majority, 69%, reported experiencing stress or anxiety due to underemployment.
- A staggering 21% reported making definite plans to leave the profession, and 47% are now looking at alternative career paths.
The new survey follows a previous report into sessional workforce challenges published earlier this year by GP, the majority of whom were sessional GPs. In it, roughly the same proportion of respondents planned to leave the profession.
It also coincides with the news that patient satisfaction in general practice has fallen. The Institute for Government, which tracks the metric, says patient satisfaction dropped ‘precipitously’ during the pandemic and has not noticeably improved since.
The NASGP has been following the challenges in sessional GP work since initial reports emerged last year.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, NASGP chair, said: “This survey’s findings add yet more evidence to the appalling state of affairs that so many GPs now find themselves in. It’s yet more proof, if any more proof were needed, that if any GP workforce plans have ever been in place, they have failed miserably.
“We fully support all the BMA’s work into quantifying the scale of this failure, and call for a cross-profession taskforce to be set up urgently to establish what steps we need in place to reduce these deeply worrying findings.”