The growing age of Britain’s GPs is a major risk to primary care, a senior doctor has warned.

The Royal College of GPs has called for new measures to persuade doctors to stay in general practice.

Its latest analysis suggests that 467 practices in England have GPs who are mostly over the age of 55. Across the UK the number is 594, the college said, warning that this placed the practices at risk of closure.

Its concerns reflect the difficulty in recruiting young GPs, especially those willing to buy into partnership agreement.

The college has proposed a five-point plan to retain GPs past pensionable age.

This would include bursaries for continued professional development together with support for indemnity fees – enabling GPs to work flexibly.

The college says there should be a review of pensions to ensure that doctors do not suffer financial loss by continuing to work.

There could also be a mentoring and job-sharing scheme to match older doctors with those returning to work after having children, it says. This would allow retiring doctors to phase out of practice – and returning doctors to phase themselves in.

College chair Dr Maureen Baker said: “Older GPs have so much to give to their patients, their colleagues and the wider NHS, yet we are at risk of ‘brain drain’ on a massive scale. Even with the significant levels of investment promised in NHS England’s GP Forward View, this cannot be replaced overnight, if ever.

“Many GPs approaching retirement want to keep on practising but also want to develop other interests, medical and otherwise. But there are currently very few opportunities for them to do this, without leaving the profession altogether.”

She added: “In the most extreme cases, practices could close, forcing patients to travel long distances to other practices, or being left with no GP at all.

“Our recent research suggests that nearly 600 practices across the UK are at risk of closure because the majority of GPs that run and work in them are at or approaching retirement age.”