Dangerous GP Shortage Puts Patient Safety at Risk
General practitioners across England can no longer guarantee safe care for millions of patients due to a critical shortage of doctors, according to the country's leading family doctor. Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), has issued a stark warning about the dangerous state of primary care, revealing that exhausted GPs are working 'completely unsafe hours' because practices cannot afford to recruit new staff.
Funding Crisis Prevents Essential Recruitment
The situation has become so severe that 61% of GP practice managers urgently need to hire at least one more doctor within the next year to meet patient demand. However, a staggering 92% of these practices report that a lack of core funding prevents them from doing so. One anonymous practice manager explained the impossible situation: 'Without additional funding, there is nothing we can do to resolve the situation. In our area the issue used to be a lack of people; now we have people available and no money to recruit with.'
Professor Hawthorne emphasised the direct impact on patient care, stating: 'We don't have the workforce to manage this safely or give the continuity of care that we know benefits patients.' The statistics reveal the scale of the problem - each fully qualified full-time GP in England is now responsible for 2,241 patients on average, representing a dramatic increase of 304 patients per doctor (16%) over the past decade.
Record Demand Meets Shrinking Resources
The crisis comes despite GPs delivering unprecedented numbers of consultations. In the 12 months to September 2025, English practices provided a record 386 million consultations - equivalent to more than a million daily and 86 million more than in 2019. Yet patients continue to face significant difficulties securing appointments.
'We know how frustrating it can be for our patients when they struggle to see their GP,' Hawthorne acknowledged. 'It's also frustrating for us when we know patients are struggling to access our services. The reality is GPs and our teams are delivering more appointments than ever, but we're struggling to keep up.'
The growing concern has prompted more than 8,000 GPs to sign a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, demanding immediate action to train, recruit and retain more doctors to restore patient safety. The intervention comes amid ongoing tensions between doctors and the government, with hospital consultants preparing to join junior doctors in strike action over pay.
While the Department of Health and Social Care claims to have recruited 2,500 GPs and provided an extra £1.1 billion in funding, Hawthorne argues these measures have been undermined by increased national insurance contributions. The RCGP survey found 83% of practice managers cited the NICs rise as a key factor preventing them from hiring doctors.
Professor Hawthorne concluded with an urgent call for clarity: 'We need the government to provide real detail - including numbers - in the 10-year workforce plan. A plan without numbers isn't a plan at all, and while the government has made promising commitments, we need a clear roadmap out of this crisis.'
