Saxmundham GP warns surgeries "badly need more staff"

Data from the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the professional body of GPs, has revealed that in the central Suffolk area there are 3,044 patients for every GP, well above the national average in England of 2,300 patients per GP.

Meanwhile, west Suffolk had 2,534 patients for every doctor, while south Suffolk and east Suffolk were slightly below the national average at 2,260 and 2,258 patients respectively.

READ MORE: Saxmundham: Dr John Havard on Suffolk GPs pressures

The RCGP figures showed a rise in the number of patients per GP across the country, with the poorest areas most significantly affected.

Dr John Havard, a GP at Saxmundham Health, has been calling for greater funding for surgeries to employ more GPs, which would create better continuity of care with a named GP and reduce the need for emergency services and hospital admissions.

The knock-on effect would be reduced numbers of deaths, possibly by as much as 25 to 30%.

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He said: "The public need to understand that the while the NHS has grown massively over the decades, General Practice has not.

"Across the country we have three times as many staff in hospitals but less in General Practice.

"The country has never spent more on the NHS and yet the share given to General Practice is less.

"We badly need more staff so we can provide appointments and continuity and thereby save a fortune in total NHS costs.  

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"The flood of demand in our hospitals needs a primary care upstream solution and not even more money going to hospitals."

He added there were now three times as many staff in hospitals as there were 30 years ago, but the "dial had not shifted" on staffing levels in primary care, which covers surgeries.

READ MORE: Saxmundham news