2025 in review: The GP recruitment/unemployment crisis 

Maya Dhillon reflects on our white paper on GP workforce, looking at how two concurrent crises – recruitment and unemployment – have affected GPs, and what needs to happen to resolve the situation in 2026

One of the most pressing issues facing general practice for the past few years has been workforce. Around autumn of 2023, Pulse began hearing reports of GPs in England being out of work; something previously unheard of, given the narrative of the past decade following GPs and practices being unable to recruit.

This pattern was pronounced across the workforce: we reported on locums travelling 400 miles from Cumbria to Cornwall to get shifts; the BMA warned that thousands of newly-qualified GPs could be left unemployed by the time they CCT’d (which did in fact come to pass). Even with health secretary Wes Streeting expanding the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) to include newly-qualified GPs when he came into office, the issue did not go away.

It was this contradiction – GPs struggling to find work while practices saying they could recruit – that prompted us to look into how general practice arrived at a paradoxical workforce crisis. In January, Pulse publisher Cogora produced a white paper about the changing general practice workforce in England, with the Rebuild General Practice campaign group. 

We surveyed around 2,500 general practice professionals, interviewed over 100 frontline practitioners, analysed hundreds of data for every practice in England and brought together all our titles’ editorial expertise. The report was launched at a Parliamentary event in the House of Commons, attended by MPs, policymakers, GPs, nurses, pharmacists and practice managers.

The findings were stark. Although practices reported an average 16% shortfall in GP numbers, many doctors were simultaneously struggling to find work. The white paper showed how funding and capacity constraints meant practices could not recruit even where need existed. What appeared to be isolated problems revealed itself to be a systemic workforce disconnect.

This was felt most sharply among locum GPs. Pulse reported growing numbers unable to secure regular work, with some travelling long distances or facing months without shifts. The analysis highlighted how shrinking locum opportunities, alongside rising numbers of newly qualified GPs, left many doctors available for work but unable to access posts.

Despite overall growth in staffing numbers, our investigation showed that this did little to ease the recruitment crisis. Many practices were adding non‑GP roles funded through ARRS and similar programmes, but the expansion of these wider workforce groups did not resolve the GP shortages that practices continued to report. This structural imbalance left practices with more staff on their books, yet still struggling to meet patient demand.

The reasons for this are multi‑layered. The white paper found that even when doctors are willing to work, many practices simply lack the funding and physical space to bring them on board – premises that were already stretched before the workforce squeeze have not been modernised to accommodate larger teams, and core funding shortfalls squeeze budgets for new posts. That squeeze exacerbated in areas with greater deprivation, where lower funding and higher demand shape practice skill mix and leave fewer GPs per patient.

Pressure on GP training is also a contributing factor to the workforce strain. Thousands of newly qualified GPs enter the system each year, but funding, premises and workload constraints mean many cannot secure posts. The white paper warned that without investment in training capacity and infrastructure, this discrepancy between supply and opportunity will only increase.

The white paper looked at how practices, PCNs and ICBs have tried to mitigate the crisis, both through recruiting and retention. While schemes like the ARRS have been somewhat helpful in boosting overall workforce, it has not solved the imbalance between GP supply and demand. Flexible working and targeted recruitment have provided partial relief, but funding, premises and training bottlenecks mean the current situation remains. 

As Pulse editor-in-chief and white paper author Jaimie Kaffash wrote at the time, the crisis is not just a numbers problem but a symptom of deeper structural tensions. His recommendations included: more funding (especially to deprived practices); removal of ARRS restrictions; expanding premises to increase training; and promoting general practice as a flexible profession.

In the months since the report’s launch, the problems still persist. Official data showed that GP job adverts have nearly halved since 2022, emphasising the dwindling job market as newly qualified doctors seek work. Concerns have also been raised about how the ARRS is being used in some areas, with LMCs calling for greater transparency after early‑career GPs reported being pushed into roles that did not align with their expectations. We have even heard how some of the most vocal advocates for tackling the GP unemployment crisis now find themselves without work, in a cruel twist of irony.

Our white paper highlighted how structural issues within the NHS have established the stubborn recruitment/unemployment crisis. Due in spring, the Government’s revised Long Term Workforce Plan will aim to tackle these challenges and provide a framework for workforce growth. But, unless it delivers concrete solutions to align GP supply with practice demand, it doesn’t look like this contradictory crisis will be going away anytime soon.

You can download a free copy of our white paper here, and find more of our coverage – including analysis, first-person pieces and interactive maps – here.