Stress forcing GPs to retire early, warns Shropshire doctor

Mary McCarthy, who has worked at Belvidere Surgery in Shrewsbury for more than 20 years, said there was a problem with the recruitment and retention of doctors.

She said many GPs faced a heavy workload involving too many patients and not enough time.

It comes after a survey revealed that more than half of family doctors say they are set to leave the profession early. The survey of 1,004 GPs across the UK found that 56 per cent said they expect to retire or leave before they are 60.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the figures as "worrying" while Dr Krishna Kasaraneni, of the British Medical Association, said he was not "surprised" by them.

Dr Kasaraneni suggested that "politicians across the board need to acknowledge that general practice is not resourced correctly."

Dr McCarthy, who is chairman of the local medical committee and represents Shropshire, North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire on the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA, added: "Certainly in Shropshire there is difficulty getting locums to cover periods of illness and maternity leave and GP practices are finding difficulty in attracting partners.

"The workload in general practice is becoming unsustainable and most GPs are working 12 hour days just to try and keep pace with the non face-to-face work."

She added that doctors were checking on average 50 laboratory results a day, writing 150 prescriptions a day, reading and replying to hospital letters, writing referral letters and answering phone calls from patients, relatives and health and social workers.

She added:

"In the UK, five years ago GPs saw 300 million consultations and received 11 per cent of the NHS budget.

"Now we see 340 million consultations and get 7.3 per cent of the budget.

"Older GPs are worn out and counting the days till they can retire; younger GPs are looking at the stress, workload and bureaucracy and deciding not to practice as GPs in the UK."

The survey found that 25 per cent of GPs said they will definitely leave before reaching 60 while 32 per cent said thought they would probably not retire or leave general practice by that age.

There were 27 per cent of GPs who cited the volume of consultations as the main reason why fewer medical students and foundation doctors are choosing to specialise in general practice. The working hours were blamed by 19 per cent.