Fully qualified GPs are responsible for growing numbers of patients, according to new data showing annual increases over the last five years.

The Royal College of GPs said the data, from the Office for National Statistics, shows the “intense pressure” on GP services.

The data shows that the doctor-patient ratio in general practice is falling because of growing numbers of trainees. But in the last year, each fully qualified GP was responsible for 2,260 patients, compared with 2,210 a year earlier and 2,120 four years ago. Overall, the number of patients for each doctor in general practice, including trainees, fell from 1,730 to 1,720 in the last year. However, this number increased in London – reaching 1,980.
The number of patients for each practice nurse remains higher than pre-pandemic – at 3,700, although it has fallen by 20 in the last year.

College chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: “Today’s figures show yet again how GPs are working above and beyond to deliver high-quality and complex care to an ever-growing patient population. A record 36.1 million appointments were delivered in October alone, with almost 40% delivered on the same day booked. On average, a fully qualified full-time equivalent GP is caring for 120 patients more than in 2019, yet the size of the full-time equivalent GP workforce has fallen by 660 since December 2019.

“While the intense pressures on GP services are being felt across the UK, some regions are being affected worse than others. We are particularly concerned this is happening in more deprived areas of the country, where patients are more likely to have multiple and increasingly complex health needs, so we urgently need to see extra funding for practices serving the most deprived populations to help recruit and retain staff in under-doctored areas, as well as a comprehensive review of retention and recruitment initiatives.”