‘We’re pleased the Government is listening – we now need greater retention focus’ says College Chair

College Chair Kamila Hawthorne has featured in the Telegraph Letters to the Editor, responding to the pledge from the Health Secretary to overhaul the recruitment commitments of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, placing greater focus on GP recruitment.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "Last month, GPs and our teams delivered more than 40 million consultations, despite having fewer qualified full-time equivalent GPs than in 2019. This isn’t sustainable. We need thousands more GPs in order to keep up with increasing patient need for our care, and get general practice back on track.

“This is why we are encouraged to see that the Health Secretary has heeded our longstanding calls for a review of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. This follows almost 10,000 College members writing to the Health Secretary calling for more focus retaining GPs in the Plan, and to address the stark disparity between projected numbers of hospital consultants and GPs by 2037.

“Training more GPs will be important if we’re to have a general practice workforce that can deliver the increasingly complex care our patients need - but we must also see much greater focus on retention of GPs in the next iteration of the LTWP. Recent College polling found over 40% of GPs said it was unlikely they would be working in general practice in the next five years, many citing stress and burnout as reasons. We need to see initiatives directed towards GPs at all career stages, aiming to keep highly-trained, experienced GPs in the profession longer, delivering patient care.

“This is a step in the right direction, and we’re pleased the Health Secretary is listening - we look forward to working with the Government and NHS England in ensuring the revised LTWP works alongside the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan to build a robust general practice service that can deliver the care our patients need, and keep the NHS sustainable.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.