Crisis in Welsh GP Practices

The situation facing GP practices is ‘unsustainable’ and will ‘continue to spiral out of control’ until Welsh Government takes seriously the concerns raised by GPs and their patients, says BMA Cymru Wales.

A year on from the launch of its Save Our Surgeries campaign, it says the overall state of general practice in Wales has worsened. It is calling on the Welsh Government for an urgent rescue package.

A survey by BMA Cymru Wales has revealed that 91% of GPs are routinely unable to meet patient demand due to unsustainably high workloads affecting appointment availability.

The survey data, which is set to be revealed to members of the Senedd at BMA Cymru Wales’ Save Our Surgeries event, also suggested that 87% of GPs feared their rising workloads were impacting patient safety as Wales saw its 100th GP surgery close this year. With 100 fewer surgeries for patients to turn to, GPs now see up to 35% more patients each, causing unsustainably high workloads and burnout with doctors forced to work less than full-time to survive.

BMA Cymru Wales said this is resulting in an exodus of experienced GPs, with more than half (53%) of GP partners planning their exit in the next three years and almost a third (31%) of salaried GPs intending to work less than full-time.

With 80% of GP respondents expressing significant concern about the financial viability of their practice, the BMA’s GP committee in Wales says it is in no doubt that the closures are a direct result of sustained underinvestment. Only 6.1% of the NHS Wales budget is invested directly into General Medical Services – services provided by GPs – a reduction from 2005/06, when it was at 8.7%.

The rescue package which BMA Cymru Wales is calling for seeks a fairer portion of the NHS budget, safeguards to protect patient and GP safety with a national maximum standard of patients per day, a workforce strategy to improve the retention and recruitment of GPs and measures to address staff wellbeing.

The calls have been backed by 704 GPs who have signed a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care asking for immediate action to save general practice from collapse.

The survey also showed that 73% of GPs would be prepared to take some form of industrial action unless immediate steps were taken by the Welsh Government to restore a fairer portion of NHS funding.