Millions of patients across the UK are at risk of unsafe care due to a severe shortage of family doctors, the chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), Prof Kamila Hawthorne, has warned. She said surgeries are overwhelmed by soaring demand but are unable to recruit desperately needed staff because core funding has not kept pace with the pressure on general practice. The warning comes at a time when GP surgeries are delivering record numbers of appointments despite working with the smallest workforce in years.
Hawthorne said many GPs are routinely working “completely unsafe hours” to compensate for the lack of staff. Surgeries are struggling to replace doctors who leave, while others cannot afford to hire new recruits even when candidates are available. She said this environment increases the risk of serious errors or missed life-threatening conditions. “GPs will always do their best for their patients, but we can’t go on like this,” she said. “Workload pressures are now so extreme that many GPs tell us they cannot guarantee safe care when there aren’t enough doctors to keep up.”
A Decade of Underfunding Pushing General Practice to Breaking Point
According to Hawthorne, decades of underinvestment have left general practice “on the brink”, with fewer doctors caring for an older population with increasingly complex conditions. The average full-time GP in England is now responsible for 2,241 patients – an increase of 304 patients per doctor in just ten years. She said this is “untenable” and erodes continuity of care, which is vital for patient outcomes. A survey by the RCGP found that 61% of GP practices need to hire at least one additional doctor in the next year, yet 92% say they cannot afford to do so.
Record Consultations but Patients Still Struggle for Appointments
General practice has delivered a record 386 million consultations in England in the 12 months to September 2025 – equivalent to more than one million appointments every day and 86 million more than before the pandemic. Despite this, many patients face long waits and difficulty securing appointments. Hawthorne said GPs share this frustration: “We know how it feels for patients who struggle to access our services. We are delivering more appointments than ever, but demand keeps rising and practices cannot afford to hire the doctors they need.”
Rising Tensions With Government as Workforce Crisis Deepens
Hawthorne’s comments come during a sharp escalation in tensions between frontline doctors and the government. Hospital consultants are preparing to join junior doctors in industrial action over pay, while GPs recently passed a motion refusing to comply with new requirements for online consultation platforms to remain open throughout working hours. Many GPs labelled the policy “unfunded” and “unsafe”, arguing it is not achievable with the current workforce collapse.
Letter Signed by 8,000 GPs Urges Action From Health Secretary
More than 8,000 GPs have signed a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting demanding urgent action to address the crisis, including clearer recruitment plans, improved retention measures and long-term investment. Hawthorne warned that general practice cannot continue to deliver timely and safe care without “the means to do so”. She stressed that GP access remains the top priority for NHS patients and warned that the situation will worsen unless the government acts.
Government Says It Is Investing, but Funding Increase Undermined by NIC Rise
The Department of Health and Social Care said it had recruited 2,500 new GPs, scrapped half of GP targets and provided an extra £1.1bn to support surgeries. However, Hawthorne said the benefit of this funding has been weakened by increased national insurance contributions, which many surgeries say have further reduced their ability to hire doctors. In the RCGP survey, 83% of practice managers said higher NIC costs directly obstruct their recruitment plans.
Calls for Detailed 10-Year Workforce Plan With Real Numbers
Hawthorne said the government’s long-term workforce strategy must include detailed, costed commitments and specific numbers on how thousands of new GPs will be trained and retained. “A plan without numbers isn’t a plan at all,” she said. “We need a clear roadmap out of this crisis and real investment in general practice to protect patient safety.”
