Thousands of newly qualified GPs could be unemployed this August due to a ‘nearly non-existent’ job market in some areas, the BMA has warned.
Speaking at the UK LMCs conference last week, chair of the union’s GP registrars committee Dr Malinga Ratwatte warned that of the 4,000 registrars achieving their CCT over the summer, many may struggle to find work.
Pulse understands the areas most affected by GP unemployment are in the Midlands and northern England.
Dr Ratwatte blamed the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) which does not allow practices to hire GPs with the funding.
‘A ring-fenced funding pot such as ARRS that cannot be used by practices to hire staff such as GPs is unhelpful, arbitrary and restrictive,’ Dr Ratwatte told Pulse.
He continued: ‘The question to the Government is this: Now that these 4,000 GP registrars are weeks away from being fully trained and ready to work, how will practices afford to hire the GPs that patients so desperately need?’
Pulse has reported on several examples of GPs struggling to find work or redundancies in recent months, and the BMA GP Committee for England has recently noted that general practice has moved from a recruitment to an employment crisis.
Dr Ratwatte added: ‘We potentially have a situation where thousands of GPs will be unemployed come August, with those on temporary visas being forced to leave the UK permanently, should they not be able to secure employment.
‘This is a complete failure of retention strategy and workforce planning and will leave patients with even poorer access to GPs.’
The inclusion of GPs in ARRS had been a ‘red line’ for GPCE in 2024/25 contract negotiations but NHS England declined the request on the basis that GPs are core, rather than additional workforce in practices.
But this has led to increased competition for the fewer salaried GP vacancies that are available, with some recent job adverts receiving over 40 applications.
GP leaders in Lancashire and Cumbria have said the job market is ‘looking really dire’ for the GP registrars who will qualify this summer, with one trainee reportedly ‘trying not to pass because of the fact they won’t then have a job’.
GP practices have also been forced to make GPs redundant due to the changing financial situation.
In Surrey, a practice made three GPs redundant, citing ‘new ways of working’ including virtual appointments and the use of ARRS staff. Pulse later revealed that the GP partners had been unable to take any drawings in the previous year since the practice was ‘running at a loss’ and needed to save £350,000 per year.
Up to 80 members of staff at a Plymouth GP provider could soon lose their jobs following a redundancy process aimed at reducing the number of clinicians who work remotely.
And Pulse reported in March that as many as 150 clinicians working for eMed, the new owner of GP at Hand, could be affected by a large-scale redundancy consultation, said to be affecting ‘mainly GPs’.