THE number of GPs in Oxfordshire is rising despite warnings that the NHS is facing a shortage of doctors.

The Health Foundation warns that serious workforce shortfalls across English GP services pose a significant risk to the quality of health care over the next decade.

But NHS England figures show there were the equivalent of 495 full-time GPs in the NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group area at the end of May.

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This was up from 488 in June last year. Of them, 222 were partners, 165 were salaried GPs and 95 were in training. There were also six regular locum GPs, and six GPs on retainer.

Across England, there were 35,626 full-time GPs at the end of May, up from 34,726 at the end of June.

However, new analysis by the Health Foundation suggests there is currently a shortage of around 4,200 GPs nationwide.

Researchers project this could rise to around 10,700 in ten years, and if an increasing number leave the profession due to burnout the estimated shortfall could double, meaning around half of posts would be vacant.

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The Government has promised to recruit 6,000 extra GPs by 2024, but the Health Foundation says it is unlikely to achieve this.

The NHS England figures show that the Oxfordshire GP workforce is on a par with the average across the country in terms of age.

Of the 495 full time GPs in the area in May, 38 (8 per cent) were under 30 years old – which was equal to the rate across England.

The Royal College of GPs said the worst-case scenarios of the Health Foundation findings would be a "disaster for patient care and the NHS as a whole".

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Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the college, said: "GPs and our teams have been working under intense workload and workforce pressures for many years, but the pandemic has exacerbated these pressures.

"More consultations are being made every month in general practice than before the pandemic, and the care being delivered is increasingly complex.

"Yet, although recruitment efforts mean more GPs are in training than ever before, numbers of fully trained, full-time equivalent GPs are falling."

The Department of Health and Social Care said a record-breaking number of GPs started training last year.

A DHSC spokesman said: “We are hugely grateful to GPs and their staff for the care they provide to patients and we are working hard to support and grow the workforce in order to bust the Covid backlogs.

“We have invested £520 million to expand GP capacity during the pandemic, on top of £1.5 billion until 2024 and we are making 4,000 training places available for GPs each year to help create an extra 50 million appointments a year.”

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi