A health watchdog says people in Brighton and Hove are struggling to find GPs after it was revealed the city has one of the lowest number of family doctors in the country.
Last week, it was revealed there are just 44 GPs per 1000,000 people in the city – with only Portsmouth and Thurrock having less.
Healthwatch Brighton and Hove has already warned struggles to get an appointment were already leading to additional pressures on A&E as patients were going there instead.
Today, it warns GP workloads could be rising to unsafe levels.
David Liley, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Brighton and Hove, said: “Behind these figures is someone’s story.
“In the last year, concerns or requests for advice concerning GPs and GP practices were the fourth main reason why people contacted us for help and support.
“And in this last week, we were contacted by someone who told us they had tried to join a GP practice in their area and were told they weren’t taking on new patients. He asked: ‘What am I meant to do?’
“Last year, Healthwatch in Sussex published a report which revealed that people who were experiencing delays in obtaining GP appointments were going to A&E instead, placing unnecessary strain on hospital resources.
“GP staff have faced unprecedented challenges and worked tirelessly to provide help and support during the covid period, but are their workloads now increasing to unmanageable and potentially unsafe levels?”
Healthwatch says the problem is also leading to some surgeries cutting back their opening hours.
It says it recently stepped in to support patients of Coldean’s New Larchwood Surgery after they had expressed their concerns about changes to opening hours, which were forcing them to travel for up to 30 minutes and on two buses to the alternative service at Carden Surgery.
It pressed hard for changes which helped to reverse a decision by the practice to reduce its hours and services.
It is now calling for more to be done to reverse the closure of GP surgeries, which has been a worrying trend in Brighton and Hove over the last decade.
In its last review of GP practices in the city, Healthwatch found that patient caseloads had increased from 2,394 patients per doctor in 2017/18 to 2,479 in 2018/2019. This was against an England average of 1,825 per doctor.
The overall number of GP Practices had also decreased from 48 in 2015 to 35 in 2019.
A spokesperson for Sussex NHS Commissioners said: “GP practices in Brighton and Hove are now offering more appointments to their patients than before the pandemic.
“We are investing in general practice to increase GPs and additional clinical staff including dieticians, pharmacists and mental health professionals, expanding the range of healthcare services available to patients as well as to ensure they receive the care and support they need.”
No doubt Brighton council will be taking this fact into consideration before approving more mass student housing blocks *or the ridiculous idea of a 424 room HMO on Melbourne Street.
*Brighton University’s website recommends that new students register with a local GP…
“just 44 GPs per 1000,000 people”? You might want to check that statistic Jo.
And four of them are on Sussex university campus.