Fears more GP surgeries may shut in staffing crisis

DOC SAYS INCREASED PRESSURES AFFECTING RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

- DAMON WILKINSON

DOCTORS have told of their fears more GP surgeries in Greater Manchester will be forced to close due to a staffing crisis in the NHS.

Last week Grove Medical Practice in Timperley announced it was shutting at the end of the September as bosses had been unable to replace a retiring doctor.

The surgery's 5,700 patients will be transferred to three other practices in the area, further increasing pressures on an already strained system.

Following the announcement, one senior doctor in Greater Manchester said he was 'absolutely sure' more GP surgeries will follow suit.

"We are now seeing the outcomes of a crisis that has been building up for the last 20 years," he said. "More surgeries will close unless urgent action is taken.

"We need to understand why doctors are leaving to go to places like Qatar, UAE, New Zealand - that's creating a significant pressure on the system.

"We need to understand why we are not training and producing enough doctors. And we need to have realistic and honest conversations with the public about this.

"People always said it's difficult [to recruit and retain doctors] in deprived areas, but Timperley isn't deprived. If it's happening there what does that say?"

According to the British Medical Association the NHS in England has lost the equivalent of 2,187 fully qualified full-time GPs since 2015.

But, here in Greater Manchester, it's a slightly different picture. 

The latest NHS figures show that last month there was the equivalent of 1,940 full-time GPs in the region. That's up from 1,839 in June 2019.