One in six GPs under the age of 50 are planning to leave the profession within five years, according to a major study casting light on the growing crisis in primary care.

Overall, about a third of GPs are planning to quit or retire within five years, according to the eleventh GP Worklife Survey, conducted by the University of Manchester. GP leaders said the survey highlighted the need for improved efforts to retain GPs and tackle burnout in the profession.

Researchers found that 61% of GPs over the age of 50 are hoping to leave the profession – and that since the start of the pandemic there have been small overall reductions in GP job satisfaction and hours of work. GP morale fell particularly sharply when asked if they were getting “recognition for good work,” researchers found. Some 2,227 doctors took part in the survey.

Researcher Professor Kath Checkland said: “It is not really surprising that job satisfaction has dropped amongst GPs during the pandemic, but the survey provides some evidence about the areas of work they are finding more stressful, which may help in designing ways to support them. The fact that 16% of GPs under the age of 50 are thinking about leaving their jobs is worrying and suggests that work is still needed to ensure that general practice is sustainable for the long term.”

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall said: It’s concerning to see any GP leaving the profession earlier than they planned, particularly in such high numbers, but it’s especially worrying to see so many family doctors planning to leave relatively early in their careers. This should be a wakeup call that we need to see robust plans implemented to retain highly-trained, experienced GPs in the workforce – and key to this will be tackling workload.

“GPs and their teams are currently working to their limits. Over the last six months, the numbers of appointments delivered in general practice every month has exceeded pre-pandemic levels – but numbers of fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs are falling. GPs want to be able to provide good, safe and appropriate care for patients – that’s why we become GPs – but due to workload and workforce pressures this is becoming increasingly difficult, it is taking its toll on GPs’ health, and they are making the decision to leave the profession earlier than planned as a result.”

He added: “More GPs are in training than ever before – but when more are leaving the profession than entering it, we are fighting a losing battle.”

Dr Richard Van Mellaerts, executive officer of the British Medical Association’s English GP committee, called for the government to “fix the problems” causing doctors to leave the profession.

He said: “GPs and their teams are exhausted from the pandemic, struggling with a toxic combination of escalating patient demand at the same time as the number of fully qualified, full-time GPs has fallen significantly. The number of GPs in England has fallen every year since the Government first pledged to increase the GP workforce by 5,000 and this survey shows that more could be set to leave if the Government does not take action. The survey also demonstrates that the very notion of a ‘part-time’ GP is often anything but. The average hours worked by a GP in England is around 38.4 hours per week – similar to most full-time jobs.”