GPs are increasingly laying plans to quit the profession – risking a mass exodus over the next few years, according to a major survey published today.

Nearly 19,000 GPs and GP trainees could quit the profession over the next five years because of the growing pressure on doctors working in the area, the Royal College of GPs warned. It found that 10% wanted to leave within a year – and 42% within five years.

The findings come from a survey of 1,262 GPs and trainee members of the college, working in England. The college said this could mean a third of GPs leaving. The NHS is currently recruiting about 4,000 GP trainees a year – but the college says this is unlikely to be enough to prevent a decline in doctor numbers. Excluding doctors who are due for retirement, doctors cited stress, working hours and lack of job satisfaction as their reasons for wanting to leave.n65% of respondents said the time for consultations was too short – meaning they do not have enough time for proper assessment of patients. Some 38% said their premises were not fit for purpose and 34% criticised the IT for booking systems.

Launching a Fit for the Future plan, the college called for new efforts to cut unnecessary tasks and red tape for GPs – and called for spending on general practice to reach 11% of total health spending. Chair Professor Martin Marshall said the findings were “alarming”.

He said: “General practice is significantly understaffed, underfunded, and overworked and this is impacting on the care and services we’re able to deliver to patients. The intensity and complexity of our workload is escalating whilst numbers of fully qualified, full-time GPs are falling. The College has been sounding alarm bells about the intense pressures GPs and our teams are working under, and the urgent need for support, since well before the pandemic, but covid has only exacerbated the situation. This is taking its toll on the health and wellbeing of GPs and other members of their teams – pushing many to consider leaving the profession earlier than planned. Our survey results should act as a stark warning for politicians and decision-makers – and we urge them to take heed of our campaign, launching today.”

Dr Kieran Sharrock, deputy chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said: “This stark warning from the College is one that the Government can ill afford to ignore. The number of fully-qualified GPs is already plummeting, meaning each day more people are losing ‘their family doctor’, and such projections lay bare the potentially devastating impact for both the NHS and patients if politicians and policymakers fail to act. While GPs and their teams are doing all they can to ensure patients are seen at their practice when they need to be, current levels of workload are unsustainable and unsafe for both patients and staff. This will only worsen if we continue to haemorrhage doctors.Furthermore, the Government must address punitive pension rules that are forcing doctors to retire or reduce their hours when the health service and patients need them most.”