GP practices are experiencing significant strain after years of underinvestment, which has left practices unable to recruit and retain enough GPs to meet rising demand. This has led to mounting pressures on GPs, longer waits for patients and shifting patterns of healthcare services, characterised by an increase in the use or urgent care, A&E and NHS 111.
Last updated: 6 February 2026.
Note on data and methodology
NHS England publishes workforce data as both headcount and FTE (full time equivalent).
Headcount refers to the number of individual doctors, while FTE is the proportion of full-time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 FTE would indicate they work a full set of hours, 0.5 that they worked half time.
As FTE reflects the true number of clinical hours the NHS has at its disposal, we usually find FTE to be more meaningful than headcount. However, we also use headcount where appropriate. This page uses both headcount and FTE and will be clearly stated throughout.
Full-time is taken to be 37.5 hours in accordance with the standard definition of 1 FTE used by NHS England. This calculation is for illustrative purposes only, as we recognise that in practice some employed doctor contracts can be 40 hours.
We analyse publicly available data on the GP workforce published by NHS England, including separate data sources for GPs employed by GP practices, those funded through the ARRS scheme and those employed through PCNs. These datasets overlap, however, meaning there is currently no transparent national statistics giving us an accurate picture of the overall number of GPs.
Demand for GP services is rising…
The number of patients registered with GP practices in England has been increasing. In December 2025, there were 63.89 million patients registered with GP practices in England, an increase of over 12% or 6.99 million since 2015.
A growing, aging population with increasingly long-term conditions and complex co-morbidities mean that demand for general practice is expected to rise further in the future. Health Foundation modelling indicates that an additional 6,500 FTE GPs (37,800 total) will be needed by 2031/31 to meet the growing clinical need, compared to the levels needed in 2021/22 (31,300). With the Government’s emphasis now on expanding preventative care in neighbourhood and community settings, the role of GPs in national patient care is more vital than ever.
…yet the number of GPs has seen little growth over the last decade
In December 2025, there were 28,777 FTE fully qualified GPs employed by NHS general practices in England. This represents a decrease of 587 fully qualified FTE GPs since September 2015, when the GP workforce dataset begins.
During this time, there has been a loss of over 6,000 FTE GP partners, driven by several factors, most notably rising operational costs, financial uncertainty, increased administrative burdens as well as the heightened perceived risks involved in taken on partnership. The number of GP practices has declined, meaning fewer opportunities for GPs to run practices in partnership. While many practices have entered into mergers, others have permanently closed. Since 2015,1,449 independent community GP practices have closed or merged (as of December 2025), resulting in just 6,174 practices across England. The longer-term trend shows a higher number of practice closures, but changes to data collection methods mean we cannot accurately compare practice numbers over this timeframe.
While the number of practice GPs started to slowly increase in 2024, this growth remains insufficient to restore the workforce to historical levels or to meet escalating patient demand. The downward trend in the GP partner workforce has continued during this time, with FTE partner numbers falling from 15,703 in December 2024 to 15,254 in December 2025: a reduction of 449 FTE GP partners in just twelve months.
Since October 2024, the number of GPs employed by Primary Care Networks (PCNs) through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) has grown. While the Government has stated that over 2,000 GPs have been recruited via ARRS, official statistics show that 1,416 FTE GPs were funded through the ARRS scheme in November 2025.
ARRS GP roles are not a permanent solution to GP workforce issues. They are short term - only those within their first two years of qualifying can apply for them in 2025/26. The PCN-based nature of ARRS employment requires GPs to work across multiple practices rather than a single surgery. This limits continuity of care for patients and hinders the professional integration of sessional GPs, who may feel isolated from individual practice teams.
Workload in general practice is mounting
Rising patient demand combined with a diminished GP workforce means the average number of patients per full-time equivalent GP has risen and now stands at 2,220. This is a difference of +282 patients per GP (or 14.6%) since 2015.
GPC England’s Patients First vision for General Practice aspires to move to a GP-led model of 1 FTE GP per 1,000 patients. However, we remain far from achieving this goal, with significant regional variations. The region with the highest ratio is London, with 2,450 patients per FTE GP, more than double the number of patients per GP than the recommended target.
Despite high pressure, GPs are working hard to see patients
Approximately 30.9 million standard appointments were delivered in December 2025. An average of 1.47m appointments per working day were delivered in the same month. 44.3% of these appointments were delivered by a GP.
Over the 12 months to December 2025, approximately 404 million standard appointments were booked. 46% were booked to take place on the same day and 82.8% of appointments were booked to take place within 2 weeks, a slight increase from the previous month. 61.5% of appointments were delivered face-to-face, not including home visits.
This workload is unsustainably high. A 2024 BMA poll of nearly 3,200 GP registrars across the UK found 66.4% work outside scheduled hours most or every day, and 72.9% responded that they experienced burnout and stress as a direct result of their clinical posting.
According to the SoMEP Workplace Experiences 2025 Report, nearly half of all GPs (44%) struggle the most with their workload, compared with 29% of all doctors. They are also twice as likely to cite workload pressure (32% vs. 16%) and treatment delays (26% vs 12%) as barriers to providing care.
Since 1 October 2025, GP practices are contractually required to offer online consultation systems throughout core hours (8am - 6.30pm) for routine appointments and administrative requests. While DHSC and NHS England have promoted rising submission volumes as evidence of success, peaking at over 8.3 million submissions in October 2025, this has added to strain placed on practices, with potential risks to both patient safety and staff wellbeing.
A BMA survey of more than 1,300 (just over one in five) GP practices in England raises significant concerns about this change. Over half (55%) reported negative effects on patient care, and 42% of practices had to reduce face-to-face appointments. In addition, 74% of practices saw an increase in workload and 68% reported a rise in stress.
Paradoxically, GPs are underemployed despite high demand for their care
Insufficient core GP contract funding and limited infrastructure have stifled GP recruitment, leaving the number of available GP posts severely constrained. This has created a paradoxical shortage of work when demand for GPs is high: a 2025 UK-wide BMA survey revealed that 56% of GPs wanted more hours in the NHS, while 15% of respondents were unable to find any suitable GP work at all. Consequently, almost half (47%) are considering alternative career paths.
This mismatch likely explains why the recent surge in GP trainees has not translated into a comparable growth in the general practice workforce. While training places have expanded significantly, rising from 3,067 in 2014 to 4,276 in 2025, the path from qualification to employment has become increasingly difficult.
The data highlights a stark bottleneck: half (50%) of all GP trainees in their final year of GP training between 2018 and 2024 were still not employed by a GP practice a year later – either in a permanent position or a regular locum role. For those in their final year in 2018, over a fifth (22%) were still not employed within a GP practice six years after completing their training.
What is the BMA calling for?
To see what we are doing to help improve the working lives of GPs, and what we’re asking of Government to support the profession in delivering the care England’s patients deserve, visit the GP campaign page.
