Only 50% of GPs intend to work beyond the age of 60, according to the latest survey highlighting the pressure on the profession.

GP leaders said the findings of the survey, by Pulse, were “unsurprising.” The survey found significant numbers of doctors seeking to leave the profession before the age of 55.

Dr Martin Whitenburgh, a GP partner in Warrington, told the magazine: “The sooner I leave this mess, the better. I don’t recognise the job any more and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone pursuing a career in general practice.”

Dr Samira Anane, policy lead for workforce on the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: “On top of unprecedented workload leading to burnout, complex and punitive pension taxation rules that can leave senior doctors facing eye-watering and unexpected charges if they stay in work longer mean family doctors are not only exhausted and disenchanted, but also absurdly financially punished for continuing to look after their patients. As a result, they are reluctantly voting with their feet by reducing hours or deciding to retire early, and the impact on patients cannot be underestimated.

“Losing these experienced and talented professionals is not only a huge loss to the NHS, but also the communities they serve and the people in them who deserve high-quality, timely care. The Government needs to start taking notice of what surveys like this show, as well as what staff on the frontline have repeatedly been saying about the pressures in the NHS, and take immediate steps to tackle the pensions issues and to address bureaucratic barriers for our international colleagues to stem the exodus of such highly skilled clinicians. Unfortunately, these results are unsurprising and indicative of the growing pressures currently facing general practice.”

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, tells The Times: “The number of highly trained, experienced GPs planning to leave the profession early is concerning but not altogether unsurprising, given the intense workload and workforce pressures GPs and our teams are working under on a daily basis.
Good work is continuing to encourage junior doctors to choose general practice and these efforts have been successful, but if more GPs are leaving the profession than entering it, we are fighting a losing battle. We need to see just as much effort going into making general practice an attractive and sustainable career for existing GPs.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: “We are grateful to GPs for their hard work and we are supporting and growing the workforce, including by investing at least £1.5 billion to deliver an extra 50 million GP appointments a year by 2024. There were over 1,400 more doctors working in general practice in March 2022 compared to the same time in 2019 and a record-breaking number started training as GPs last year.”