More than 200 GP practices have closed in England in the last year, according to figures published today.

In contrast just 8 new practices have opened.

The closures have affected about half the country and have occurred in spite of an increasing population of practice patients. Numbers increased by 55,000 over 12 months, according to the NHS Digital data.

The total number of closures was 202.

There are 7,400 practices in England and the number has now reduced by about 3%.

GP leaders warned that many closures were happening because doctors simply could not cope – or could not recruit successors.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “When practices are being forced to close because GPs and their teams can no longer cope with ever-growing patient demand without the necessary funding and resources, it’s a huge problem. And when practices are being forced to lock up and hand back the keys to their surgery because they can’t recruit enough GPs or practice staff, it will have severe consequences for our patients and the wider NHS.

“GP practices are the lifeblood of our local communities so the complete closure of any practice will always be a last resort when all other options have proved unworkable.

“More research into why practices are closing would be really useful – but ultimately, we need the pledges in NHS England’s GP Forward View, including £2.4bn extra a year for general practice and 5,000 more full-time equivalent GPs by 2020, to be implemented in full and as a matter of urgency.”

Dr Richard Vautrey, acting chair of the British Medical Association GP committee, said: “The government has long ignored GPs warnings that general practice is struggling to cope, but this is further evidence that the service is at breaking point.

“With over 200 practices closed or merged in the last year and many more struggling to manage their workload pressures it is time for government and NHS England to step up their efforts to resolve this crisis before even more patients lose their much loved local GP service.”