The official rescue plan for general practice in England needs a “major overhaul,” the Royal College of GPs says today.

The GP Forward View in 2016 promised to recruit more doctors and find extra investment for struggling services.

General practice needs another £2.5 billion a year – and GP numbers have fallen in the last two years, the college says.

It points out that England now has 1,000 fewer full-time equivalent GPs than in 2016 – rather than the 5,000 extra promised by 2020.

The college says the plan has delivered progress in some areas, including a record number of GP trainees and the introduction of practice-based pharmacists.

The college assessment states: “There were not enough doctors working in general practice when the GP Forward View was published. Now, there are even fewer. This is a fundamental problem and while it persists many of the other commitments in the GP Forward View cannot achieve the impact they were designed to deliver.

“Without enough GPs, excessive workload remains a major problem, exacerbating the pressures that are causing doctors to leave the profession.”

Chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “We are not turning our back on the GP Forward View – it remains the most constructive, indeed only, solution to tackling the intense resource and workforce pressures facing general practice, and it is making good strides in some areas.

“It needs an urgent overhaul to address the pledges that are not progressing fast enough.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We recognise the invaluable contribution of GPs and we are determined to support them in every way. That’s why we’re investing an extra £2.4bn a year into general practice by 2020-21 and a record number of doctors are in training.”