A key promise made in the Conservatives' general election manifesto 2019 is likely to break, as the number of GPs in England can't be increase by 6,000 - health secretary Sajid Javid has admitted.
The reason why the target cannot be met, Javid says the GPs are retiring early. He revealed this while giving evidence to the cross-party Commons health select committee.
When asked by the committee chair, Jeremy hunt, if the government was on track to implement the pledge of 6,000 GPs, the health secretary replied, "No. I’m not going to pretend that we’re on track when we are clearly not.”
During the election campaign, Boris Johnson made the commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000 by 2025. Labour Party now accuses Javid of having "casually dropped" that pledge. “It is staggering that Javid has abandoned Boris Johnson’s key election promise to recruit 6,000 extra GPs”, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary was quoted as saying. “Patients struggling to get an appointment will be appalled that this promise has been so casually dropped.”
The British Medical Association (BMA), which is at loggerheads with Javid over his plan to force GPs for more face-to-face appointments, said heavy workloads is a reason behind experienced doctors quitting.
“The latest workforce figures for England show that we have lost the equivalent of more than 1,800 full-time, fully qualified GPs since 2015, despite pledges to increase numbers by 6,000”, said Dr Richard Vautrey, the chair of the BMA’s GPs committee.
“So while the health secretary’s admission today is long overdue, it is absolutely not news to GPs and their colleagues working in surgeries across the country that have been decimated by workforce shortages.
“The bottom line is we are haemorrhaging doctors in general practice. While more younger doctors may be choosing to enter general practice, even more experienced GPs are leaving the profession or reducing their hours to manage unsustainable workloads.”
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