Some doctor’s surgeries in Birmingham and Solihull have far more patients per GP than others, NHS figures show.
On everage, thre are 1565.0 patients for every full-time-equivalent GP within the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICB).
There are also 1,719 patients for every full-time-equivalent GP in England, and 1617 in the Midlands. An average GP practice in England has nearly 10,000 patients on its books, figures published by NHS Digital show.
The latest data shows there is the full-time equivalent of about 35,000 GPs, working across 6,500 surgeries in England.
Professor Martin Marshall, who chairs the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs want to be able to consistently give their patients the personalised care they deserve, no matter where they live in the country. But the increased workload expected of GPs and their teams, coupled with the chronic shortage of GPs, is unsustainable.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Each General Practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of its patients. There is no government recommendation for how many patients should be assigned to a GP, as the demands each patient places on their GP are different and can be affected by many different factors – including rurality and patient demographics.”
The figures, a snapshot from August 31 of this year, were published by NHS Digital and include trainee GP and locums.
Here, we can reveal the busiest GP surgeries in within the Birmingham and Solihull ICB.
1. Kirpal Medical Practice, Handsworth
The practice has 15159 patients per GP Photo: Google Street View
2. Hodge Hill Family Practice
The practice has 13359 patients per GP Photo: Google Street View
3. Holyhead Primary Health Care Centre, Handsworth
The practice has 13235 patients per GP
4. Hamstead Road Surgery, Handsworth
The practice has 6274 patients per GP Photo: Google Street View