GP surgery closures cause undue burden on thousands of patients

A number of illnesses require surgeries to be carried out. However, there is a growing problem in the UK as the series of GP surgery closures caused hundreds of thousands of patients to find another GP surgery amid the health crisis.

Pulse Healthcare obtained data under the Freedom of Information laws concerning GP surgeries, which revealed that there were about 350,000 patients in the UK who were compelled to move to a new GP surgery following a number of closures, the data suggested, the Independent reports.

In 2019, there were 99 GP surgeries that closed. The previous year, there were already 138 that ceased operation. One of the reasons for the closures was branches merging with others, causing patients to look for another GP surgery that is accessible to them. There were those entities though that did not merge but ended their practices. In London alone, there were 18 GP surgeries that closed, which affected 61,000 patients.

One of the things that came out of the numbers, which created an impact was the number of doctors who were already approaching retirement, as well as vacancies in GP. This was revealed by Dr Michelle Drage, Londonwide Local Medical Committees' chief executive.

Drage elaborated on the workforce crisis that acts as a looming threat to the stability of many London practices. She said that they have consistently found that two-fifths of the practices have impending retirements, whereas a third carry GP vacancies.

She also mentioned that the response to the pandemic is also posing a new threat to viability. The increasing demand for services and infection-control measures in place are stretching resources. Worse, there is a lack of full reimbursement of expenses related to the pandemic, causing more burden to finances.

The pandemic has created a toll in a number of medical services. Such a burden is not only felt by GP surgeries in the UK, but a similar wave is felt in the US.

In a Harvard Business Review, it revealed that COVID-19 created a backlog in elective surgeries. A number of uncompleted procedures, which were already scheduled over three months, saw delay. In addition, it also noted that the healthcare system is experiencing a diminishing capacity.

GP Surgery

In both scenarios, an overall result is a high number of patients failing to receive medical care that they needed.