GP vacancy rates ‘hit record high levels’

The rate of vacancies within UK general practice has reached a record-breaking level, according to a new report.

Conducted by Pulse magazine, the survey of 690 surveys indicated that 11.7 percent of all British GP posts are currently vacant, up from 9.1 percent last year and 6.4 percent in 2014. Almost half of practices have had to recruit a partner within the past 12 months, a process that is taking longer than six months on average.

This comes after NHS figures revealed a two percent drop in the number of full-time equivalent GPs last year, despite the government's commitment last year to recruit 5,000 more GPs.

Indeed, leaders in the sector told Pulse that the current recruitment crisis is a major reason why many practices are having to close, while some GPs said they have had to recruit advanced nurse practitioners to help fill the talent gap.

BMA GP committee chair Chaand Nagpaul said: "The government must ensure that practices that are suffering recruitment problems will be supported and relieved of admin pressures, and be allowed to close their lists."