Devon GP practices under pressure, survey shows
Two practices in Devon say they are at black alert, meaning they are at risk of failing within a month
At a glance
A total of 18 Devon GP practices are at red alert and two at black alert, the county's local medical committee say
A third of practices are working under a level of pressure that cannot be sustained without further support
NHS Devon said it had supported additional capacity within GP practices financially between May and July
Government department of health and social care said
- Published
Devon’s GPs are working at an unsustainable rate, according to the county's local medical committee.
An alert system, which has been in place since 2020, asks GP practices to complete a survey asking how each practice is coping.
A total of 60 responded last week out of 120 practices.
Black is the highest level of alert, meaning practices would be at risk of failing within a month.
Red alert means practices would only be sustainable to run in the short term.
In the latest survey, two reported their alert level as black, with 18 reporting red.
A third of practices reported to be working under a level of pressure that could not be sustained without further support, the local medical committee said.
It said the increasing demands of patients was coinciding with an exhausted workforce and increasing Covid-related sickness.
One Devon GP responded to the survey last week, saying they were "at breaking point".
“Yesterday, I was the only doctor; I dealt with 87 patients personally. Two doctors were off sick with Covid, my practice manager has Covid, my lead admin staff has called in sick, one of my nurses is threatening to leave ... I am at breaking point," they said.
NHS Devon said the survey was "collated from some GP practices in Devon ... providing a snapshot of their current status to other parts of the health and care system and indicating where support may be needed".
It said: “The current heatwave and high rates of Covid-19 among both staff and patients are causing additional pressure across the entire system.
"We are urging members of the public to support us by wearing a mask if they are attending an appointment or visiting friends or family in a hospital or care home, and by staying away if they have Covid-19 or symptoms of any infectious disease such as the stomach bug norovirus."
A spokesperson for the government's department of health and social care said it was "working hard to support and grow" its departments in the South West to help "beat the Covid backlogs".
It said it was funding a scheme "to bring in doctors in hard to recruit areas, which includes 82 places in the South West".