Less than half of GP appointments are now actually with a doctor as patients are increasingly ‘fobbed off’ with other staff.
Most consultations in general practice were led by nurses, pharmacists and physician associates for the first time last year, NHS figures reveal.
Patient groups highlighted the decline of family doctor appointments and accused Labour of hammering the ‘final nail in the coffin’.
GPs are now outnumbered by other colleagues by almost three to one. But a decade ago there were as many of them as other clinical staff in surgeries.
There were a record 329million GP appointments in England last year in which the role of the healthcare professional was known. But just 162.5million (49.39 per cent) were conducted by a GP.
Surveys show satisfaction with general practice has fallen to an all-time low, fuelled by the difficulty of getting through on the phone and securing face-to-face care.
Exclusive polling for the Mail in December found that just one in three British adults (36 per cent) was confident they could get a GP appointment.
The NHS has been encouraging surgeries to hire a wider range of clinical staff after failing to recruit and retain enough doctors, who typically cost more to hire and take a decade to train.
Out of 329million GP appointments in England last year just 49 per cent were conducted by a GP (file image)
Most consultations in general practice were led by nurses, pharmacists and physician associates for the first time last year (file image)
This includes physician associates (PAs), who can take a two-year postgraduate course in healthcare after an undergraduate degree in subjects such as geography and human resources.
The Royal College of General Practitioners says PAs should not have a future in general practice after their use was linked to fatal misdiagnoses and patient deaths.
Dennis Reed, director of the group Silver Voices, which represents elderly patients, said: ‘It is very worrying that the proportion of GP appointments conducted by doctors has fallen below half.
‘The traditional family doctor died a long time ago and this is the final nail in the coffin.
‘How can the Government bring back the family doctor if you are only able to see a GP half the time – and then not always the same one? People feel they are being fobbed off when they are unable to see a GP first, and I fear it is dangerous. Important conditions could be missed.’
There were 28,197 fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs in England at the end of December – up by 710 compared with the end of the previous year, but down from 29,320 in the same month in 2016.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said a lack of funding and NHS schemes aimed at boosting non-medical staff were hampering efforts to recruit doctors.
She added: ‘We face a bizarre situation. We are short of GPs and patients are left waiting, but GP job adverts are increasingly rare and GPs can’t find work.’
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Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said members of the wider practice team should not be seen as substitutes for GPs.
But she added: ‘Not all patients need to see a GP. Routine procedures such as blood tests or issuing repeat prescriptions can be carried out by other members of the team. What’s important is that no member of a GP team is given clinical responsibilities beyond their competence.’
Helen Morgan, health and social care spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, who analysed the figures, said: ‘As our Health Service comes under pressure from an ageing population, it is vital that the Government recruits GPs.
‘Under the previous Conservative government, promise after promise was broken to patients that enough GPs would be there.
‘The Labour Government cannot repeat these mistakes.’
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘Patients should expect relevant communication about who they will see for their healthcare and why, while making sure patients receive the right expertise.’
The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘GP services are buckling after years of neglect. We will fix the NHS.’ NHS England said: ‘We’ve slashed red tape. We can now hire more doctors.’
