More than half of self-employed doctors have struggled to find work over the past year, a survey suggests.
A survey of more than 500 locum GPs in England, who charge up to £850 a day, revealed that 55 per cent had found it difficult to get a change in practices.
Eight in 10 complained that demand for their services had fallen, even though many Britons were desperate to see their GP.
Locum doctors blamed financial pressures on surgeries and the use of less qualified doctors to perform their role.
Campaigners today warned that GPs have become an “endangered species” and criticized practices to replace doctors with “less qualified staff”.
A survey of more than 500 locum GPs in England, who charge up to £850 a day, revealed that 55 per cent had found it difficult to get a change in practices.
online GP surveyed 533 locum GPs in England, and 14 per cent reported that demand for their services remained static. Only 5 percent said it had increased.
Almost nine in 10 believed employment opportunities for locum GPs in their area had decreased.
More than half attributed the crisis to practices struggling to get substitutes. Eight in 10 said surgeries were drawing on other staff functions and therefore reducing the use of locums.
Three in 10 (29 per cent) blamed increased competition from other locum GPs.
An anonymous GP who responded to the survey said practices have been “under pressure” to employ other types of staff, such as pharmacists, physician associates (PAs) and physiotherapists, through the Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). .
The ARRS scheme was introduced in 2019 and allows primary care networks – groups of GP practices operating in the same area – to recruit for other roles, such as podiatrists and occupational therapists, and claim reimbursement of their salaries.
It is supposed to increase patient access, but some experts have called for the money to be allocated to employing full-time locum GPs.
There have been concerns, in particular, about the use of PAs to fill GP workforce gaps.
PAs work under the supervision of a physician and require two years of graduate school, but no formal medical training.
Another GP who responded to the survey complained that they used to have “four or five” practices applying for their work as soon as they advertised availability, but now work comes in “in dribs and drabs”, meaning they have fewer bookings and have than traveling further.
A GP said they are now applying for work outside the NHS for fear of not being able to pay their mortgage and other bills.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, an over-60s campaign group, told MailOnline: ‘Just a couple of years ago it was lucrative to be a locum GP because there were so many gaps to fill.
‘Practices are now reducing the number of GPs and replacing doctors with associate doctors and other less qualified staff.
“It is a sad situation as the GP is becoming an endangered species.”
Only four in 10 people in England (42.6 per cent) saw their GP on the same day they contacted his practice in November, the latest NHS data shows.
A fifth (18.8 percent) waited two to seven days, while 20.9 percent were forced to wait eight to 21 days. One in 20 had to wait more than a month.
In October, agencies that coordinate with sites across the country and connect them with locums asked doctors to consider lowering their expected hourly rate to increase their chances of being hired.
Average substitute day rates in England ranged between £600 and £850 in 2023, an increase of two per cent in a year, according to data collected by Management in practice.
In previous years, desperate practices have offered substitutes for up to £1,000 a day to cover staff shortages.
A GP said Legumes That month, substitute work “literally disappeared overnight” and they were forced to contact a charity for financial help.