Rising patient numbers push GPs to breaking point

Doctors are warning there is now an “obvious imbalance” between demand and resources

The number of patients at GPs in Coventry and Rugby has grown by nearly 10,000 in the last year - with doctors warning there is now an “obvious imbalance” between demand and resources.

Figures published by NHS Digital today showed there were 522,894 people registered with doctors in the clinical commissioning group covering the two places at the start of this month.

That is up from 513,546 the same time last year - a rise of 9,348, or 1.8 per cent, in just 12 months.

The spike has been fuelled by an increase in younger adults registered with a GP.

In particular, the number of people in their 30s who were signed up with a local doctor rose from 73,625 last November to 76,373 this month.

The number of patients in south Warwickshire rose by 5,347 over the year, while in the north of the county, figures were up by 1,462.

Doctors said rising patient numbers came at a time when they already faced problems with recruitment - as well as ever-growing expectations in terms of opening hours and services.

The government pledged in 2015 to recruit an extra 5,000 GPs to reduce the workload on stretched staff.

The government says it is working hard to train up more family doctors, and is spending £100m on a recruitment campaign targeting people from overseas.

But data published earlier this year suggested as many as 15.8 per cent of GP posts are currently vacant.

That would imply the government is further away from its recruitment target than before it started.

Interestingly, Capita are conducting an exercise to remove 'ghost' patients from GP's listings. I wonder how many of our 'overburdened' GPs are affected?

I know that my GP's surgery is nearly always empty and if necessary I can usually get an appointment the same day. I have a sneaking suspicion that things are not as bad as they are being reported.

A lot of people are turning to alternative medications as they have lost trust in pharmaceuticles and doctors.