Thousands of hospital doctors could be recruited to work in general practices to solve the appointment crisis.
The drastic proposal, which has yet to be confirmed, would see specialist and specialist (SAS) medics being called up to practices across the country.
Such doctors have not received the highest level of training and do not reach the level of consultant.
Health bosses hope the plan will help cut GP waiting times and create millions of appointments.
But top GPs fear the move could be unsafe, with the lack of clarity about the role of SAS medics raising concerns for patient safety.
Data from the NHS shows there were 36,428 GPs in England in March, compared to 34,526 in the same month in 2019. However, the number of fully qualified GPs fell from 28,486 to 27,306 over the same period
The expansion of pharmacy services is part of a wider ‘primary care recovery plan’ designed to restore public satisfaction with GP services post-pandemic. Graph shows the ratio of GP patients to practices, which averaged 9,740 patients per consultation hour in March
The personnel crisis is fueled by more and more doctors reducing their working hours and taking early retirement. Some are leaving for the private sector or abroad because of the pressure.
The latest NHS data shows there were 36,428 GPs in England in March – compared to 34,526 in the same month in 2019.
However, the number of qualified general practitioners fell during the same period.
Regulatory hurdles currently mean that SAS doctors cannot practice in general practices.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, President of the Royal College of GPs, said The times while SAS physicians today “have the potential to make a valuable contribution,” the plans “must above all be without prejudice to existing commitments to train and retain suitably qualified GPs.”
SAS medics are “absolutely not a substitute for fully qualified general practitioners, and should only be able to work in general practice, seeing routine general practitioner patients, under the supervision of a qualified general practitioner,” she added.
A draft position statement from the British Medical Association (BMA) has also warned that it is ‘not viable’ to place SAS doctors in general practice.
In the statement, published ahead of a national medical conference later this month, the BMA warned the move would create more work for an already overstretched service.
It would also create “significant additional oversight duties for GPs,” it said.
It comes as the government on Tuesday unveiled its long-awaited GP ‘recovery plan’, which aims to ease pressure on GPs and hand over new prescription powers to pharmacists.
Policymakers hope the scheme, which comes into effect by winter, will free up 15 million appointments and end the dreaded ‘8am scramble’.
Measures revealed in the plan also include the £240m investment in new telephone systems to reduce waiting times for patients seeking an appointment and the £385m spend to employ 26,000 direct patient care assistants.
Surveys show that public satisfaction with GP services is at an all-time low, with patients complaining about the difficulty of accessing a doctor and getting through over the phone.
But on a visit to a GP practice in Hampshire, Mr Sunak said: ‘We want to significantly increase the number of specialist GPs so that the long-term NHS staffing plan will set out our ambitions and how we are going to deliver on that. , but these are already record numbers, we want to continue.’
The most recent data shows that GPs make up only a quarter of the primary care workforce. Under the new ‘recovery plan’ for GPs, the government has pledged to spend £385 million to employ 26,000 direct patient care workers. It is hoped that this will yield more than 50 million appointments by March 2024
Among the brisk measures unveiled yesterday, the government revealed that a common pharmacies scheme would be launched in England before the end of 2023. Under the service, patients can get a prescription from their pharmacist for seven minor illnesses, including earaches and urinary tract infections, without going to their GP first. The pharmacy contraception service that started last month and the existing pharmacy blood pressure service will also be expanded
However, he declined to repeat the Conservative 2019 pledge for an additional 6,000 GPs by 2024.
He said: ‘What we do with GP numbers is simple. This means that there are now almost 2,000 more doctors working in general practice than in 2019.
‘But also – and I can speak with some knowledge of this – it is true that not everyone needs to see a GP.’
The long-awaited NHS staffing plan, which could be released within weeks, is expected to boost GP training places.
NHS chiefs hope this promise will allay GPs’ concerns about greater use of SAS doctors.
The General Medical Council, which regulates doctors, is also pushing for reforms to allow more SAS doctors to work in general practices.
Charlie Massey, the CEO, recently said there was “a willing pool of talent in the form of SAS physicians, who could play a transformative role in primary care if only given the opportunity.”
In its annual workforce report from last year, the regulator also revealed that SAS doctors provide a ‘fantastic resource’ and partial solution to the vulnerable workforce in general practice.