England is considerably short of recruiting the thousands of additional primary care staff promised to help relieve pressure on GPs, it was claimed today.

Practices and practice networks were due to recruit some 26,000 physiotherapists, pharmacists, counsellors and other supporting clinical staff by 2024, the Guardian reports. It consists of 20,000 planned by NHS England in an additional roles reimbursement scheme together with an extra 6,000 promised in the Conservative 2019 general election manifesto.

According to the latest workforce data, fewer than 9,500 had been recruited by September, nearly two years after the 2019 election. The data shows just 14 podiatrists, 38 dietitians, 79 mental health therapists and 252 health and wellbeing coaches working in general practice. There are 2,626 pharmacists and 1,427 social prescribing link workers.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall said: “Whilst progress in meeting this target is better than the GP target, it’s still slow and very concerning that this could be another promise that won’t be met. The impact of not having enough staff in general practice is being felt acutely both by GPs and our team members who are working to their limits, and our patients, who are facing longer waits for the care they need. Meeting this target – and the GP target – will be vital to addressing this.”

The Department of Health said the programme was on track. A spokesperson said: “The new recruits will be a core part of local primary care teams, reducing pressure on general practice and ensure patients can see or speak to the right clinician. We have invested £530m to expand GP capacity during the pandemic, on top of £1.5bn until 2024 and we have a record number of GPs in training this year, with 4,000 accepting places.”