GP 'crisis'

Fact checks about GP waiting lists, appointments, staffing and pharmacists

10 September 2024

Blair Institute report did not recommend closing most GP surgeries

The report recommended that NHS England develop a new contract which would help GP practices serve a patient population of around 250,000.

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9 August 2024

Conservatives wrong to claim GPs are striking for first time in 60 years

An X post by the Conservative party wrongly suggests GPs are striking for the first time in 60 years.

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16 July 2024

GP patient list has not increased by 6.4 million since 2019

NHS data shows the number of patients registered in England has increased by about half this figure in the last five years.

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8 April 2024

Only one area in England has seen a 79% increase in four-week waits for a GP

Across England as a whole the overall increase was 38%.

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22 September 2023

The government does not pay private health companies twice as much as GPs

Claims government spending on private healthcare companies is double GP services aren’t quite right, as non-NHS healthcare spend figures also include money for charities and local councils.

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5 September 2023

Wes Streeting column claiming 5,000 drop in GPs over last decade amended

Mr Streeting wrote that there were almost 5,000 fewer fully qualified GPs than a decade ago, but NHS England says the data pre-September 2015 is not comparable to current figures.

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31 March 2023

Are GP numbers rising or falling?

Earlier this month the PM claimed there are now a “record number” of GPs, while the Liberal Democrats say the number’s down since the last election.

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14 December 2022

Labour’s analysis on five million ‘denied’ GP appointments fact checked

This widely reported figure is an estimate, based on several assumptions that may not be right.

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16 June 2022

Survey of GPs’ retirement plans is not reliable

The GPs who responded were the ones who knew about the survey and chose to participate—who are not necessarily representative of GPs as a whole.

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20 October 2021

Two doctors with same name cause Times letter confusion

A social media post incorrectly claims that a letter written to The Times was from a doctor who died in 2016.

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