The number of patients covered by each full-time GP – excluding trainees and locums – has risen by about 2,000 across most of Greater Manchester.
Falling numbers of fully-qualified doctors – combined with rising patient lists – mean each GP is more stretched than at any time in recent history.
The latest NHS workforce figures show that in Oldham, for example, there were 110 full-time equivalent (FTE) GPs covering 250,930 registered patients in September last year. That does not include locums or so-called GP registrars – essentially trainee doctors.
Just two years earlier, there were 126 FTE GPs covering 244,634 patients.
That means the number of patients-per-GP has risen from 1,942 to 2,281.
Full Story in the Manchester Evening News, 28 January 2017