GPs in deprived areas care for almost 2,500 patients per head, which is over 300 more than those in more affluent areas, new analysis has shown.
The research, carried out by the RCGP, revealed that the number of patients per full-time equivalent (FTE) GP working in areas with the highest level of income deprivation has increased by 12% since 2018 and at ‘nearly twice the rate of those in the least deprived areas’.
There were also ‘significant’ regional variations, with London GPs being responsible for 2,562 patients per head compared with 2,023 in the South West.
College chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne will highlight these ‘devastating inequalities’ in her speech at the RCGP conference later today, blaming the trend on ‘decades of underfunding’ in general practice.
The analysis sought to estimate the number of registered patients per FTE GP and compare this by deprivation level by calculating a deprivation score for the neighbourhood where registered patients live.
| Level of income deprivation | Registered patients per fully qualified GP FTE |
| Least levels | 2,129 |
| Lower levels | 2,309 |
| Moderate levels | 2,448 |
| Highest levels | 2,451 |
The number of patients per FTE GP in the most deprived areas rose from 2,190 to 2,451 between 2018 and 2024.
Despite this higher rate of increase, even areas with the lowest levels of deprivation saw a 7% rise in the number of patients per full-time GP, up from 1,990 six years ago.
Alongside this data analysis, the RCGP has also highlighted the risk of GP attrition, with a recent survey revealing that over 40% of GPs are planning to leave general practice within five years.
Almost 20% of GPs said that most days they ‘felt stressed and felt they couldn’t cope’, according to a survey carried out across May and June with almost 2,200 respondents across the UK.
In her speech today, Professor Hawthorne will call on the Government to ‘take urgent action’ to tackle health inequalities by carrying out a ‘review of all general practice funding streams so that more spending is channelled to areas of greatest need’.
On the research published today, she will say: ‘When I became a GP, it was normal to have a list size between 1,600-1,800 patients. The role was busy and challenging, but it was manageable. Our latest figures reveal that the average is now 2,300.
‘All GPs work extremely hard, and we would argue that almost all areas are under-doctored, but it can’t be right that a GP in Kingston upon Thames looks after 1,800 patients while a GP in Kingston upon Hull, one of the most deprived places in England, is expected to cover twice that number.’
In July, the BMA’s GP Committee England said practices should have a list size of up to 1,000 patients per GP in order to ‘ensure’ safety, and this ask formed part of its manifesto.
The committee has also argued that a cap on patients per GP should be implemented as part of the next contract.
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
