London GP vacancy rates more than treble (Southwark Liberal Democrats)

Southwark Liberal Democrats <info@southwark-libdems.org.uk>

London GP vacancy rates more than treble

January 20, 2004 12:00 AM

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes MP will later today (Tuesday 20th January 2004) challenge Health Minister John Reid on new figures that show the number of GP vacancies in London has more than tripled in the last four years.

The figures released in a Parliamentary answer to Mr Hughes shows that in 2000, there were 143 GP vacancies in the capital. By 2003, this figure had rocketed to 459 an increase of 221%. South East and North East London were hit hardest with rises of more than 370%.

Simon Hughes said:

"There is a clear trend where qualified GPs do not want to come to London. There may well be an increase in facilities and surgeries, but they are of little use without the qualified staff to work in them. This leads to more gaps in provision of services and more GP lists being closed to new patients.

"Many new qualified GPs are not coming to work in London because with huge debts to pay off, they don't stand a chance of getting on the property ladder.

"Ministers, the Boroughs and the Mayor must make a concerted effort to attract more qualified health staff into London. Without this, many of the most vulnerable in the Capital will be left without a GP to provide the basic primary care they need."