One in six practices have failed to fill a vacancy in the last year in one city, an LMC survey has shown.
Leeds LMC’s survey of 41 practices also showed that about a third of respondents feel they do not have enough GP sessions in their practice to meet patients’ needs.
Almost 27% of respondents expect some of their GPs to leave the practice in the next 12 months and 63% expect some of their GPs to leave in the next five years.
Dr Richard Vautrey, assistant medical secretary of Leeds LMC and deputy chair of GPC, said the city has traditionally had little difficulty in attracting and retaining GPs but this trend has now changed.
He said: ‘The growing GP workforce crisis has started having an impact on local practices, and in particular those who service the most deprived communities in the city.
‘There is an urgent need for significant and sustained investment in core practice funding and for the Government to talk up and value general practice, so that practices not only have the resources to take on more GPs and nurses but that there is an increase in the number of doctors and nurses choosing general practice as a career.’
