A recent study (Rosa Parisi, 2024) has shown the contracted hours fulfilled by each fully qualified GP has fallen from 30 a week on average in 2015, to 26 a week in 2022.
This reduction was largely driven by male GPs cutting their hours from 2015; when many worked more than the hours required under a full-time contract.
This fell to almost 32 hours a week on average in 2022, while female doctors remained stable at about two-thirds of a week – between 24 and 25 hours on average.
The latest NHS data also showed that of the 37,677 fully qualified GPs in England, they are filling 27,662 FTE roles.
One full-time equivalent GP could be made up of multiple doctors working part-time, which is increasingly the case. And some qualified GPs may not be working as GPs.
Between 2015 and 2022, the median full-time equivalent (FTE) of a fully qualified GP decreased from 0.80 to 0.69. But, at the same time, there was a 9% increase in registered population per GP FTE. And, importantly, the numbers of patients with chronic conditions increased by 32%.
This means there has been an increase of almost 250 patients per GP, with each family doctor now responsible for 2,085 patients each on average.
The average number of patients per GP is continuing to rise
Dr Parisi, the study’s lead author from the University of Manchester, which conducted the research, suggested that GPs may be working less because they were:
“likely to be unwilling or unable to face more of the intense day-to-day pressures”
and she was “not entirely sure why male GPs are reducing their hours, but policies are desperately needed to incentivise them to work longer”.
The study also found GP surgeries in the most deprived areas had 17 per cent more patients and 19 per cent more chronic conditions per full-time equivalent GP, compared with the least deprived areas.
Conclusion
In other words, the decrease in total working hours is caused by a combination of factors: family doctors retiring early, poor recruitment and retention, and more GPs doing fewer hours; partly as they have more patients (with more chronic problems) leading to more pressure when they are there.
None of this data factors in the huge amount of admin (and other duties, including teaching and supervision) GPs do, outside their contracted hours. MyHSN feels they are the coalface (and best bit) of the NHS, and still do a great job, in increasingly difficult times. We need more GPs, and support staff, with all being able to do manageable jobs.
