The BMA has shared ‘heartbreaking’ stories from GPs struggling to find any or enough work, as it renewed calls for urgent funding to address the workforce crisis.
The anonymous testimonies came from a recent BMA survey exploring underemployment and unemployment among GPs, with some doctors considering emigration or a career change into life coaching or bus driving (see box).
The stories, which include one GP who feels ‘thrown on the scrap heap’, were shared at the LMC conference in Glasgow last week by Dr Mark Steggles, chair of the BMA’s sessional GP committee.
Describing the personal stories as ‘heartbreaking’, Dr Steggles shared previously unpublished results from a survey that was released in February.
This included that almost 70% of the 1,400 respondents reported stress or anxiety because of the workforce crisis. A further 38% reported low self-esteem and confidence due to the challenges of finding work. And 37% said they were having problems sleeping.
‘Bizarre, toxic, scandalous, unconscionable, ridiculous, unacceptable…I’m running out of new adjectives to use to describe the crisis that is GP unemployment and under-employment,’ said Dr Steggles.
‘It is incomprehensible that, amid overwhelming demand on the NHS and excessive appointment wait times, GPs are struggling to find work.’
In an exclusive interview with our sister publication Pulse, the BMA GP registrars committee co-chairs revealed that some GPs are working unpaid just to remain on the performers list.
Dr Cheska Ball said: ‘There are individuals picking up sessions, so work for half a day, a full day, for free, because they need to stay on the performers list, which is a real issue, actually.’
Dr Ball and co-chair Dr Victoria McKay said that due to the lack of available work, many newly qualified GPs are turning to roles outside general practice. They described GPs being forced to look for jobs with extremely low pay, while some are even checking their eligibility for unemployment benefits.
The committee has called for immediate, ring-fenced government funding to support GP employment this year.
Although the BMA recently agreed to GP contract changes for 2025/26 and the Government has expanded return-to-work schemes in England, the BMA warned that these are not long-term solutions to the workforce crisis.
’We need the additional funding to get these GPs into work now,’ said Dr Steggles. ‘We cannot afford to waste the talent, time, and dedication of our future GPs.’
Earlier this year, Management in Practice’s publisher Cogora launched a white paper in Parliament highlighting the recruitment paradox within general practice, where vacancies persist while GPs remain unemployed.
Personal GP stories on unemployment crisis
- I’ve spent the past eight months fulfilling the criteria to work in Canada including passing an exam. I plan to go alone, leaving my wife and two kids here and send them money.
- My friend, who was a salaried GP, jumped off the aqueduct last year because of the way the NHS is at the moment. A family lost a mother and wife because the government doesn’t value a workforce of caring highly qualified dedicated doctors who are burning out.
- I have given up now. I’m mainly a stay-at-home mum dependent on a husband I wanted to divorce.
- I’ve looked at changing careers e.g. becoming a software coder, medical coder, life coach, even driving a bus or train.
- I did not expect to have to be rationing my earnings at this stage in my career.
- I want to work. I looked forward to ‘giving back’ and contributing to the NHS in my later years. I looked forward to helping burnt out young GPs and sharing my experience, but I feel I have been thrown on the scrap heap.
- I feel badly let down by the government. I very much regret going into general practice. I wish I had stayed in hospital medicine or another specialty.
- As a neurodivergent doctor, it was difficult enough to find suitable work. This has now become considerably harder.
- I have felt extremely low and terrified over the past few months. I have no other source of income; I am single and care for my dad. Without work, I won’t be able to afford my mortgage or other bills. I haven’t been able to sleep or do anything for myself because I’m in survival mode.
Source: BMA
