High hopes for GP recruitment

Data shows Lincolnshire is in the bottom quarter for the number of GPs to patients, but the county’s NHS integrated Care Board is confident recent investments will address recruitment challenges.

The NHS Digital Data figures, collated by procurement contract database Tracker, showed that at the end of last year Lincolnshire was ranked 26th out of 106 Integrated Care Boards (ICB) in terms of patient to GP ratio.

Lincolnshire has 1,513 patients for every GP, writes Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Jaines.

Meanwhile, North East Lincolnshire ranked second with one GP to every 1,894 patients, and North Lincolnshire was 51st with one GP for every 1,382 people.

The worst area in England was Hull, where there were 2,063 patients per GP.

NHS Lincolnshire ICB, which oversees the county’s health procurement, said General Practice services were improving, but were now provided by a multidisciplinary team, not just doctors.

An additional £12.5 million invested into new general practice roles had seen 260 new positions, meaning the county had a higher than national average rate per 100,000 of direct clinical staff.

The data, taken from a November snapshot, suggested that North East Lincolnshire had the second-highest ratio of patients to GPs, with a total of 172,344 registered patients and 91 GPs. North Lincolnshire, has 133 GPs for 183,865 registered patients.