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BMA GP poll shows 34% of GPs are considering retirement in the next five years (15 April 2015)

Date: 15/04/2015
Duncan Lewis, Clinical Negligence Solicitors, BMA GP poll shows 34% of GPs are considering retirement in the next five years

GP leader of the British Medical Association (BMA) Dr Chaand Nagpaul has said the findings of poll – which revealed one-third of GPs are considering retirement in the next five years – showed that promises being made by some politicians about the NHS were “absurd”.

BBC News reports that the BMA poll surveyed 15,000 GPs and one-quarter also said they were also considering working part-time – while one in ten admitted they were considering working abroad.

Dr Nagpaul said:

“This poll lays bare the stark reality of the crisis facing the GP workforce.

“It is clear that incredible pressures on GP services are at the heart of this problem, with escalating demand having far outstripped capacity.

“GPs are overworked and intensely frustrated that they do not have enough time to spend with their patients.

“In this climate, it is absurd that in the recent leaders' debate, political parties were attempting to outbid each other on the number of GPs they could magically produce in the next Parliament.

“Since it takes five to eight years to train a GP – it is not possible to create thousands of GPs in this timeframe.”

The Conservative Party has promised seven-day GP opening and Labour has also pledged that patients would be able to see a GP within 48 hours.

The Liberal Democrats have promised to give mental health services parity with physical health and a similar system of waiting time target from GP appointment to referral to a specialist.

UKIP has suggested that GPs should be stationed at A&E departments, in response to increasing numbers of patients who attend A&E unable to get an appointment to see their GP.

Last week, the poll results found that many GPs felt that their workload was affecting patient care, with 71% saying that their excessive workload was taking a toll on their commitment to being a GP.

The BMA poll revealed that 43% of GPs now feel they do not have enough time to spend with patients – and 7% are considering leaving the medical profession.

Last week the poll also revealed that only 8% of GPs felt that the standard 10-minute consultation was long enough to be able to deal with patient concerns.

Some GPs now limit their consultations to just one medical problem per consultation, meaning patients with complex problems or more than one medical concern may not be able to tell their GP everything they think they should know.

A&E departments have reported huge increases in the number of people attending who are unable to access their GP, including elderly patients with chronic or complex care requirements, mental health patients unable to access support and NHS patients who have been unable to get a GP appointment quickly enough.

As a result, many A&E departments have missed their target waiting time of 95% of patients being seen, treated, referred or discharged within four hours.

In some cases targets have been missed consistently for as long as six months.

Last week Labour Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said that GP services “had gone backwards”.

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