GPs are seeing THREE TIMES as many patients as is deemed safe: One in ten treat 60 people every day and some have to see 100, reveals survey
- Poll of 1,681 GPs found they are working 11 hours a day on average
- Of these 11 hours, eight are spent on clinical care and three on admin
- GPs feel ‘on edge by lunchtime’ and worry patient safety is being compromised
GPs are dealing with more than 100 patients a day – three times the safe limit, a survey reveals today.
The average family doctor has 41 patient ‘contacts’ in a typical day, including consultations and phone calls.
But one in 10 has more than 60 contacts and the UK’s most senior GP said she sometimes has more than 100 contacts.
The survey by Pulse magazine found the safe number of patients was 30. Above this and they risked making serious mistakes.
GPs across the UK are seeing far more patients than they think is safe (stock)
Meanwhile, research by the Nuffield Trust reveals the NHS is facing its first sustained fall in GP numbers in 50 years.
There were 64.9 family doctors per 100,000 in 2014 but this had fallen to 60 per 100,000 in 2014.
According to the think-tank’s analysis this is the first sustained drop, happening over several years, since the late 1960s.
GPs are retiring or quitting and they are not being replaced by younger trainees, because the career path is unattractive.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, who practises in Lichfield, Staffordshire said: ‘In my own practice recently, I had a 12-hour day and 100 patient contacts.
‘GPs across the UK will tell similar stories.’
GPs were asked by Pulse how many patient contacts they had on a typical day, 11th February this year.
Dr Jonathan Harte, a GP in Nottingham who took part in the survey, said: ‘By lunchtime, I felt on the edge and risked missing urgent tasks and contacts, thus affecting patient safety.
‘I did miss the fact that a patient I had tried to contact earlier in the day had called back, so I didn’t call her back before the surgery closed.’
Dr James Howarth, a GP in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, said: ‘I was duty doctor on the day of Pulse’s survey, and I had 124 patient contacts.
‘The median is about 60 to 70 – beyond a safe level. This workload creates patient safety risks.
‘We might forget consultant details, plans and actions, or prescribe for the wrong person, use the wrong labels on blood tests, and so on.
‘I have raised safety concerns with governing bodies before. I was basically told to shut up or my practice would be run over with a fine-toothed comb.’
Professor Clare Gerada, former chair of the RCGP, said tired and overworked GPs were more likely to make mistakes.
She said: ‘You could miss a result or misread a letter, or you don’t focus on the right symptom or ask the right question.’
The Government initially promised to hire an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020 but since that pledge in 2015 they have admitted the goal is unachievable.
In fact the most recent figures show the NHS lost 1,000 family doctors between 2015 and 2018.
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘We already know that general practice is under pressure which is why investment in local doctors and community services is increasing by £4.5 billion, helping fund an army of 20,000 more staff to support GP practices as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
‘But we are also aware that almost nine out of ten salaried GPs currently work part-time.’