Pulse reports that almost 800 GP practice have closed in the past eight years, forcing an estimated 2.5 million UK patients to move; 96 have closed in 2020 alone.
Pulse first started looking at the issue in 2013 when just 18 practices shut their doors. From then until 2020 a total of 778 surgeries have closed, meaning an estimated 2,494,700 patients have had to attend a different practice.
GP leaders said it was ‘shocking’ that practices had not been given enough support to avoid closure during Covid-19, ‘the biggest health crisis in decades’.
The 2020 data was collected from responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests sent by Pulse to all CCGs and health boards across the UK, and covers full practice and branch closures, including from mergers.
Full story in Pulse, 30 April 2021