The number of patients being cared for per GP has increased by 12% across the region in the past six years, new research has shown.
There are now 220 more patients per fully qualified GP in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire than there were in 2016.
The research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, showed that the number of fully qualified GPs in the area’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) fell between December 2016 and December 2022 to 472, down from 488.
Nationally, the number of fully qualified GPs fell by 2,000 to just over 27,000.
The demand for GPs has also grown from 2016, putting more pressure on a service which is losing staff.
The number of registered patients in the area has grown from 920,000 to nearly 1 million in the past 6 years. There are now 2,100 patients per fully qualified GP, an increase of 12% on the 2016 figure.
The Liberal Democrats have called for 8,000 new GPs to be recruited nationally.
Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, commented: “All of my constituents should have the ability to see their GP when they need to. But because this Conservative Government has abandoned our relentlessly hardworking GPs, this is not always possible.
“The work our brilliant doctors do in the community has gone completely unrewarded by the Conservatives.
“They have subjected GPs to intolerable stress and burnout. It is no wonder so many are leaving the profession.
“People are fed up with this Government failing to deliver on the basics as our local health services are driven into the ground.
“We Liberal Democrats would not just pledge to recruit more GPs as the Conservatives have, we would actually do it. It is the very least that the people of Bath and our hardworking medical professionals deserve.”
