Revealed: GP postcode lottery as number of registered patients soars

Embargoed until 22.30 Monday 13 February 2023

• Areas with highest number of patients per GP revealed in “stark postcode lottery.” 

• Registered patients up by over 4 million while GP numbers down by 1,946 since 2016

• Steve Barclay and Maria Caulfield’s own local health districts see a 20% rise in patients per GP since 2016.

Some areas in England now have almost 3,000 registered patients for every fully qualified GP, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The stark postcode lottery was uncovered through the House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.

Across the country, the number of registered patients at GP practices has increased by 7 per cent to 62 million since 2016, an increase of over 4 million. Meanwhile the number of fully qualified GPs has fallen by 7 per cent to 27,375 over the same period, a fall of 1,946. It means that across England there are now 2,273 patients per fully qualified GP, up from 1,981 in 2016. 

The Liberal Democrats said the rising number of patients and fall in fully trained GPs was creating “a perfect storm” that has led to many people finding it almost impossible to book an appointment. 

Blackburn with Darwen now has 2,915 registered patients per fully qualified GP, more than anywhere else in the country and up 25% since 2016. This is followed by Portsmouth (2,821), Hull (2,805) and Oldham (2,805).

Even the constituencies of Health Ministers have seen sharp rises. In the Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s own backyard of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, there are 2,336 registered patients per qualified GP, up 20% compared to six years ago. Meanwhile, in Health Minister Maria Caulfield’s Lewes seat, the number of registered patients per GP shot up by 21% to 2,404 compared to six years ago. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for 8,000 new GPs to be recruited to enable all patients to be given a legal right to see a GP within seven days, or within 24 hours if in urgent need. This would be achieved by recruiting an extra 8,000 GPs, through increasing training places, fixing NHS pension rules and launching a campaign to encourage retired doctors to return to practice. 

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“Communities across the country are seeing ever falling numbers of GPs treating ever growing numbers of patients, in a stark postcode lottery. It is creating a perfect storm that means for many people, it feels almost impossible to see your GP when you need to.

“This ever-worsening GP shortage is having a terrible human cost, as people face delayed or missed diagnoses and A&Es fill up with desperate patients looking for treatment.

“People are fed up with this government failing to deliver on the basics as local health services are driven into the ground.

“The Liberal Democrats would finally recruit the extra GPs this country needs, in order to deliver a guarantee that everyone can get a GP appointment within a week or within 24 hours if in urgent need.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Full data from the House of Commons Library is available here.