The Tory Government has failed to meet its target to increase GP numbers by 5,000 in 2020 and is not on track to meet the revised target of 6,000 extra GPs by 2025, according to health think tank, The Nuffield Trust. Instead, GP numbers have fallen by 416 since 2016. Oldham CCG area is in the second highest band of patients:GPs – 1,816 patients to every GP. Wirral CCG has the best ratio in England – 1,346 to every GP.

At the same time, patient demand is increasing as England’s population ages, the backlog of people waiting for NHS treatment totals 6.1m and long Covid affects over 2m of us. GPs are also ageing and retiring or choosing to work part-time. The BBC reported that violent incidents against primary care staff have doubled in the past 4 years making it even harder to retain those GPs in post. GPs worked through the pandemic, often under severe pressure, despite Government attempts to imply otherwise. Attacking GPs and other staff is an unacceptable response to frustrations about the service they can provide.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care commented ‘It is no wonder that residents complain about how hard it can be to get to see their GP given the high numbers of patients each GP has to look after. I know that our local NHS works hard to make sure appointments are available but despite Oldham CCG’s best efforts the only long-term solution is for the Government to deliver more GPs. This is a problem entirely of the Tories’ making as they have failed to produce a funded long term training strategy for the NHS.’

Oldham Labour welcomes investment in new NHS services, and Oldham’s Labour Council stands ready to work with the NHS to deliver new surgeries and a wider range of local services in Shaw and Saddleworth.

Councillor Brownridge added ‘Oldham Council works closely with the CCG and with hospitals and specialist NHS services across Greater Manchester to deliver the best possible health and social care, but the truth of the matter is that unless the Tory Government meets its own target of 6,000 extra GPs nothing will improve. The Tories voted down two-yearly reviews of staffing levels and workforce plans which might have helped sort this out. They have no plan to deliver the GPs we need in Oldham, nor to tackle the wider staffing crisis across our NHS. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but I do wonder if this half-hearted approach to staffing will undermine our faith in the NHS which is one of Labour’s greatest achievements and has made so much difference to so many of us’.