Labour pledges thousands more GPs as 23 practices close in Crawley’s area over the last 5 years

Millions of patients in England are forced to find a new doctor, as hundreds of GP practices close every year. Crawley’s local NHS structure, the Sussex Integrated Care Board, has seen 154,447 patients forced to find a new GP due to closures over the last five years.

Freedom of Information responses from NHS bodies reveal that 2.8 million patients have seen their practice close down or merge in the past five years, forcing patients to find a new GP. People in rural areas are often left having to register with practices miles away from where they live.

There are 1,200 fewer GP practices today than in 2015, while more than 2,000 GPs have been cut in the same time. As a result, the number of patients per practice has gone up from 7,465 in 2015 to 9,722 in February, with each remaining practice having to take on an extra 2,257 patients on average. Each GP is having to look after an extra 348 patients today compared with 2015.

Almost one in four patients say they couldn’t get an appointment with a GP last time they tried to book one.

Labour is promising to train 15,000 doctors a year, so patients can get appointments when they need them. The party will double medical school places, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows wealthy people living and working in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.

Patients having to change GPs means they are less likely to see a doctor who knows their medical history, while stretched GPs are able to see fewer patients face-to-face today. Two in three patients rarely see the doctor of their choice, up from half in 2018, while 3 in 10 appointments are not face-to-face. Labour is pledging to bring back the family doctor and guarantee face-to-face appointments to all who want them, so patients can book appointments to see the doctor of their choice, in the manner they want.