GPs are seeing an average of 31 patient contacts each day, which is down from the average of 37 reported last year.
Pulse’s recent survey, which had 840 UK respondents, asked GPs how many patient contacts they have in a full day, with just over a third stating that they see between 26 and 30.
Despite a reduction from the 37 contacts reported in Pulse’s survey last year, this year’s average of 31 is still above the BMA’s recommended ‘safe working’ limit of 25 contacts per day.
Only 13% of GPs responding to this question reported between 21 and 25 contacts per day (see box).
Since August this year, many GPs across England have been working towards the 25 limit as part of collective action.
Pulse’s survey – which included partners, salaried and locums – also revealed that GPs are working an average of 35 hours per week.
Just under a quarter of respondents said they work between 31 and 40 hours per work, and a similar proportion said they work 41 to 50 hours.
And the average number of sessions worked in a week was 5.85, with the largest proportion of respondents (23%) working 6 sessions per week.
GP patient contacts per full day (incl. face-to-face, remote and home visits)
Fewer than 10 2% 11-15 2% 16-20 4% 21-25 13% 26-30 34% 31-40 31% 41-45 7% 46-50 4% 51-60 3% 61-70 1% 71-80 0% 81-90 0% 91-100 0% More than 100 (please specify) 0% Don’t know 1%
Dr Nadeem Ahmed, a GP partner in Reading, told Pulse he is dealing with around 45 contacts per day, and that despite being a ‘well-staffed practice’, demand has gone up in recent years.
He said there is also ‘a lot of dumping’ from secondary care, with GPs having to act on messages from hospitals and contact patients.
Of the BMA’s 25-contact limit, Dr Ahmed said: ‘We can set a limit, but at the end of the day, patients are going to suffer. Where are they going to be seen? How are they going to be seen? They have to be seen.’
A Cambridgeshire GP partner, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that he works ‘more hours than is fair’ on his family, and that GPs at his practice ‘do not stop for lunch’.
‘I hear of people’s normal working week being 37.5 hours – I will easily do that in three days,’ he told Pulse.
On daily patient contacts, he said he does around 31 to 40 in a day, but that on duty doctor days he will have 48 different patients on his worklist.
‘On top of that, I will have had 200 prescriptions to authorize. I will have had queries on about another 15 prescriptions, and then 20 to 30 blood tests, and 20 letters to read.’
On the BMA’s recommendation for 25 contacts per day, the partner said: ‘I’m not against that as the BMA concept. But we decided that if we moved to that, it would just blow a hole in any service that we could provide.’
Another GP answering Pulse’s survey said her practice is ‘working to cut down’ from 31 to 40 contacts per day, but ‘it is not easy’.
Last year, NHS England told Pulse it does not accept the ‘arbitrary’ BMA advice for practices to redirect workload after 25 daily contacts per GP.
This survey was open between 19 September and 18 October 2024, collating responses using the SurveyMonkey tool. A total of 838 GPs from across the UK responded to these questions. We ran a midpoint analysis to calculate the average for each question. The survey was advertised to our readers via our website and email newsletter, with a prize draw for a £200 John Lewis voucher as an incentive to complete the survey. The survey was unweighted, and we do not claim this to be scientific – only a snapshot of the GP population.
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30 doesn’t seem too bad..? It’s the mountains of admin that make the job difficult to manage really surely.
Who cares what NHSE thinks. They are not seeing any patients, sorting out referrals, reading and acting on hospital letters, reviewing lab results, writing DWP reports, doing home visits and all the other daily tasks of General Practice.
This survey doesn’t help WTR efforts and id unhelpful
Face to face/booked tcons may be 26-35 a day but no account is taken of the often unaccounted contacts regards medication lab results letters imaging reports tasks queries 2’care pushback and then you have to add in supervision and support
Unlike consultants my job plan does not regulate my non patient facing time or demand so I finish late and have lunch at my desk
According to your GMS contract, you only have to provide the reasonable demand of your population. Not fulfill every demand. when those providing more burn out , they have only themselves to blame.
“He said there is also ‘a lot of dumping’ from secondary care, with GPs having to act on messages from hospitals and contact patients.”
To which my response is No. No no no no no. The hospital “clinician” should pick up the phone, and do it themselves.
All depends if gps work full time or not and average list size per doctor for full time equivalent .remember they do no out of hours work now.
It’s not about the numbers, it’s about how toxic the workload and the working environment have become and the harm this causes to patients.
The GMC, BMA, CQC, NHSE, politicians etc should hang their heads in shame
Define contact, first.