Pensions and paperwork lead to 1,000 GP partners quitting

A fall in GP partners had led to less than half of patients being able to see their preferred doctor when they please
A fall in GP partners had led to less than half of patients being able to see their preferred doctor when they please
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The pensions crisis and high workloads are partly to blame for 1,000 general practice partners leaving the NHS in the year since June last year.

The figures from NHS Digital are equivalent to about one in 20 partners — doctors based permanently at a practice that they run. The GPs blamed “overly burdensome admin”, pressured working conditions and the strict new pension rules that disproportionately penalise senior NHS staff.

Overall, the number of fully qualified GPs working in England, including locums, fell by 576 (2 per cent) in the year to June this year. The number of GP partners fell by 5.3 per cent (1,035) to 18,511.

The decline in GP partners is particularly likely to affect patients who want to see the same doctor,