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The last few months in #generalpractice have felt hectic, even by usual #GP standards.
short
looks at what appointment/workforce numbers show, with some thoughts on the important bits that those numbers can't tell us....
short
looks at what appointment/workforce numbers show, with some thoughts on the important bits that those numbers can't tell us....
1. Total appointment numbers in March were high (28.5m), BUT
2. The number of appointments done by GPs was particularly high (14.7m - the highest since the dataset began).
3. GPs did 2.5m more appointments in March '21 than in Feb (nb there were 3 more working weekdays)
2. The number of appointments done by GPs was particularly high (14.7m - the highest since the dataset began).
3. GPs did 2.5m more appointments in March '21 than in Feb (nb there were 3 more working weekdays)
- The absolute number (and %) of F2F appointments is creeping up (15.8m in March) AND
- The number of phone appts in March 21 (11.4m) is also the highest on record.
- The number of phone appts in March 21 (11.4m) is also the highest on record.
So, general practice is very busy (by pandemic and pre-pandemic standards).
Given that appointment numbers are
what has happened to workforce? (
)
Given that appointment numbers are
what has happened to workforce? ()
In short, not a lot. ie still no signs of the long promised additional GPs.
- FTE GP headcount is up.
- But if you exclude registrars it's only up 0.4% on March 2020.
- In March 2016 there were 29,564 fully qualified GPs. In March 2021 there were 28,096 (important context)
- FTE GP headcount is up.
- But if you exclude registrars it's only up 0.4% on March 2020.
- In March 2016 there were 29,564 fully qualified GPs. In March 2021 there were 28,096 (important context)
Worth noting some other interesting trends:
- No. of GP practices continues to decline
- No. of GP partners also declines. Salaried and locum GPs still
- Direct patient staff numbers increase (except nurses which are static), but PCN workforce dataset still immature.
- No. of GP practices continues to decline
- No. of GP partners also declines. Salaried and locum GPs still
- Direct patient staff numbers increase (except nurses which are static), but PCN workforce dataset still immature.
Some other (important) things to consider:
- This doesn't include #covidvaccine work, the majority of which (in phase 1) was done by general practice/ #PCNs
- It doesn't reflect case complexity (and decreased availability/longer waits for secondary care/mental health teams etc)
- This doesn't include #covidvaccine work, the majority of which (in phase 1) was done by general practice/ #PCNs
- It doesn't reflect case complexity (and decreased availability/longer waits for secondary care/mental health teams etc)
- It doesn't reflect the fatigue of working through a pandemic, nor the constant re-organisations, nor all the 'hidden' workload (shifts in admin, e-consulting, extra practice meetings to run service changes etc).
This is all important context for #COVIDrecovery
This is all important context for #COVIDrecovery
For a more detailed analysis of primary care activity through COVID check out (credit @tlswatt @ElaineKTHF @HealthFdn ) https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/charts-and-infographics/use-of-primary-care-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-may-2021
