Two in five ‘poorly paid’ GPs ready to quit NHS – and a third say they’ll leave in next five years
The average salary is £100,000 a year but GPs surveyed say pay is a problem
TWO in five GPs are set to quit the NHS with poor pay one of the key reasons.
The average full-time family doctor earns just over £100,000 a year.
But a study found 37 per cent of GPs intended to quit within the next five years. Seven in ten wanted to cut back by changing roles, taking a career break or reducing their hours.
One surveyed called pay a “major problem.”
Dr Richard Holman, of Barnstaple, Devon, said: “Locums can earn the same or more than a partner and don’t have the worry of running a practice or the mountain of paperwork.”
Last week, it emerged record numbers of patients were thrown off GP practice lists last year.
Medical leaders blame a workforce crisis and ballooning workloads for 91 surgeries closing in 2016.
It has forced 265,000 Brits to sign up to a new GP or travel to a different practice to stick with their existing doctor.
Experts warn the NHS faces a growing GP recruitment crisis. Ministers vow to hire 5,000 more by 2020.
But the number of full-time GPs fell 445 in the three months to the end of December.
More than 2,200 GPs in the South West were asked about their career plans.
Study leader Prof John Campbell, of Exeter University Medical School, said the outlook was “bleaker than expected”.
Royal College of GPs chairwoman Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard said the NHS is “haemorrhaging GPs at an alarming rate”.
She said: “General practice is currently facing intense workload and resource pressures – these figures show it is severely impacting our workforce, and we fear they are indicative of the situation right across the UK.
“The future of the NHS relies on having enough GPs to deliver the safe care and services our patients need.”
A Department of Health spokesman said an extra £2.4 billion is being pumped into general practice.
She said: “This sample survey was carried out before we launched our world-leading plan to improve conditions in general practice – so it doesn’t take into account our steps to improve morale and retention.”