The rate of GP resignations could increase as pressures continue to grow on the service, the chair of the Royal College of GPs has warned.

The latest monthly data continues to show appointments increasing at practices while the numbers of fully qualified GPs reduce. RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said it has been a “tough winter” in general practice.

Professor Hawthorne said: “We know from what our members on the frontline are telling us, they continue to face intense workload and workforce pressures. Almost 30 million patient consultations were delivered by GPs and our teams in January, 6% more than the same month in 2019, with more than 45% of these on the same day they were booked. GPs and our teams are going above and beyond to ensure patients receive timely and appropriate care, but they are doing so with 843 fewer fully-qualified, full time equivalent GPs than in 2019 – a figure that continues to fall.

“Month on month the data tells the same story. This isn’t sustainable, it’s leading to access and safety issues for patients, and it’s causing GPs to burn out and leave the profession earlier than they planned to. It’s high time the Government recognised the pressures facing general practice, and the impact this is having on both patients and the general practice workforce and acted to address them.

“The College is calling on Government to implement a bold new recruitment and retention strategy that goes beyond the target of 6,000 GPs pledged in its election manifesto, as well as significant investment in our IT systems and premises, and urgent action to cut bureaucracy so that we have more time to deliver care to the growing numbers of patients who need it.”

The Daily Telegraph yesterday quoted new data from the Office for National Statistics showing that in January 21% of adults said they wanted a GP appointment but decided not to attempt getting one. Most said this was because they would have to wait too long. About a quarter of these said they did not want to place extra burdens on the NHS.

According to the latest NHS Digital data, the number of full time equivalent, fully qualified GPs working in the NHS reduced by 88 in January and stood at 1.7% fewer than in January 2022. The total number of doctors working in general practice, including trainees, fell by 262 in January. Practices delivered 29.6 million appointments in January and 74,000 of these were COVID vaccinations. 45% of patients were seen the same day they requested an appointment. This compared with 26.7 million appointments in December 2022 and was an increase of nearly 11%. Doctors undertook 47.7% of these appointments and nurses undertook 21.1% of them.