NHS Confederation responds to the latest GP workforce statistics (June 2023)

Responding to the publication of the latest general practice workforce statistics for May 2023, Ruth Rankine, director of primary care at the NHS Confederation said:

“There is no denying that we are in an unfortunate repetitive cycle of drops in fully qualified GPs, with the number of fully qualified GPs again going down year on year. As the workload increases and patient needs become more complex, this is a worrying trend. 

“We have said before, the government must be realistic with the public about what general practice and primary care can deliver in the next few years, as we are still way off meeting the government target of 6000 more GPs by 2025.

“The government must address this downward trend through the imminent NHS workforce plan which needs to focus on investing in retention as much as recruitment. We are already in a vicious cycle of staff leaving due to workload pressures and conditions; we hope the plan will help break this cycle, retain staff and ensure general practice staff feel supported when delivering care for their patients.”