Dr Richard Vautrey: Act now to save our GP surgeries as NHS crisis grows

GP services are at breaking point, says Dr Richard Vautrey.

A NEW British Medical Association survey has laid out what many GPs and an increasing number of patients already know: General practice is in crisis.

The new poll answered by close to 3,000 practices a focused on the state of the local GP workforce and the financial stability of services.

The results on both fronts were grim.

In Yorkshire, the figures were worse than the national average, with close to 40 per cent of GP practices recording imminent retirements and a further six per cent saying that they had staff thinking of leaving the UK altogether.

Even more worryingly, nearly 300 practices across England – 16 in our region – said they were financially unsustainable and effectively looking at the prospect of closing.

A further 600 practices nationally said their financial position was weak and they were having to make plans to try and resolve the situation, with 31 of them in Yorkshire.

Only five per cent of practices in England said their finances were in a strong position, a sign of just how much of a problem we face.

The impact on patients of these findings is already being felt. Many GP practices are struggling to cope with a surge in demand for care, especially from an ageing population with complex health problems that increasingly needs to be cared for in the community.

The current 10-minute recommended time for each patient is utterly inadequate in these circumstances. I regularly see patients who come with a list of problems, all of which are important and each one in turn needs to be dealt with properly, and it can often be the final one in the list that turns out to be the most important and requires the longest time to deal with.