The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) warned that as surgeries continue to struggle with increasing demands, conditions will only get worse if actions are not taken to increase investment.
Research by the RCGP has predicted that next year patients will be turned away from their doctors on 51.3 million occasions if current trends continue.
A shortage of GPs coupled with an ageing population and rising patient demands have resulted in the Primary Care system being overstretched. Health leaders have stated that if the government does not act to increase investment, then the NHS will be heading towards a major catastrophe. The number of available appointments do not stretch far enough to cover the current healthcare needs of the public, and an extra 8,000 doctors are required to help reduce the strain.
However, the Department of Health has confirmed it is working to increase the number of GPs, and there are now 1,000 more doctors available than there were in 2010.
This research provides a shocking insight into the current conditions within the system and highlights how overworked our doctors are. We agree that funding and investment is essential when it comes to tackling concerns over staffing levels and the increasing pressures that NHS workers are facing. Medical negligence cases are often a result of mistakes made by overworked staff and changes are vital if we hope to improve healthcare services.
