Funding for GP practices has been slashed by £350 million in real terms since 2019, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
The analysis shows NHS funding for GP practices in England was 6.9% lower in 2022/23 compared to 2018/19, once inflation is taken into account. The average funding per patient was £165 in 2022/23, a real terms cut of £12 per patient over the past four years.
The Liberal Democrats said it was ‘unforgivable’ that the government was cutting funding for GP practices at a time of rising demand, leaving millions of people struggling to get an appointment in general practice.
The latest figures show that in November 2023, 1.5 million GP appointments took place four weeks or more after being booked, making up one-in-twenty (4.8%) of all appointments that month. Almost 5.5 million people waited two weeks or more for an appointment in November, or over one-in-six (17.3%) appointments.
The research also shows that the impact of the real terms cuts to GP funding varies widely across different areas. North West London’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) was the worst hit with GP funding per patient slashed by 16.8% in real terms since 2019, or a fall of £28 per patient. This was more than double the average cut to GP funding across the country.
The other areas seeing the largest real terms cuts per patient were North Central London (14.4%) Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire (11.2%) and the Black Country and West Birmingham (10.3%).
The average funding per patient also varied widely per region. North Central London receives just £134 per patient, Frimley receives £141 and Surrey Heartlands £144, all well below the national average.
Overall, 40 of 42 ICB areas in the country have seen real terms GP funding per patient cut since 2019. Only two, Cornwall and Hampshire, had seen funding per patient increase.
The Liberal Democrats said the figures showed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was out of touch with patients struggling to get the care they need. The party is calling for patients to be given a legal right to see their GP within seven days, or 24-hours if in urgent need. This would be achieved by increasing the number of fully qualified GPs by 8,000 with an initiative to boost recruitment and retain more experienced doctors.
Responding to the Liberal Democrats’ analysis, Ruth Rankine, director of primary care at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘Any drop in funding going to GP practices is concerning as primary care services continue to face mounting demand for care. GPs and their teams are being stretched to breaking point managing patients with more complex or multiple conditions in the face of tightening budgets and long waiting lists for specialist care.
‘General practice delivers the majority of NHS activity and with the right level of investment in workforce, technology and estates it will be able to transform services to do more to keep people well and out of hospital. There are opportunities amid the ongoing pressures to do more at scale leaving general practice to focus on continuity of care which we know patients value, while utilising the new roles in primary care.
‘Our members want to see more investment and greater flexibility in the 2024/25 contract so they can continue to design and deliver services to better meet the needs of their populations.’
