With the number of NHS GPs in practice falling and amid a shortage of frontline doctors, people are increasingly turning to the private sector for help, our research shows.
Report on the future of general practice (11 October 2022)
A recent report by the Health and Social Care Committee outlined the challenges facing GPs and NHS patients.
From the report:
“GPs are leaving almost as fast as they can be recruited, and patients are increasingly unhappy with the level of access they are getting.”
“The root cause of this is simple: there are not enough GPs to meet the growing demand for the service.”
“In May this year there were an estimated 27.5 million general practice appointments, more than two million more than in 2019. Yet over the same period, the number of qualified GPs working full-time in the NHS fell by almost 500.”
“Along with deteriorating access to care, the decline in continuity of care in general practice is one of the most worrying effects of the pressure on general practice.”
Source: The future of general practice – October 11, 2022
It would be fair to say we are heading into winter; it looks bleak for NHS GPs and their patients.
Online searches for private GP services (2019 vs 2022)
In October 2022, we analyzed how often terms related to private GP services were used to trigger Google searches in the UK. We looked at data for average monthly searches for each month between September 2019 and 2022.
We initially looked at the UK as a whole, dividing the research into four home countries. However, given that overall search activity is far greater in England than in the rest of the UK, we’ve decided to break down the English results by county.
We generally found that it searches private GPs in the UK increased by significant 156% between September 2019 and 2022 (21,170 vs. 54,160 per month.)
Growth in private searches for general practitioners from September 2019 to 2022 by nation:
- England – 151%
- Scotland – 203%
- Wales – 166%
- Northern Ireland – 382%
Demand for private GP services in England
Building on our overall research, and given that search volumes for private GP services are significantly higher in England than elsewhere, we looked at how search activity has changed in each English region and county.
Increasing demand by region
English counties with the largest increase in searches for private general practitioners on the Internet:
10 counties with the greatest increase in demand:
- Nottinghamshire – 308%
- Lincolnshire – 265%
- Devon – 210%
- East Sussex – 210%
- Cornwall – 200%
- Merseyside – 196%
- Yorkshire – 192%
- Wiltshire – 190%
- Worcestershire – 185%
- Bedfordshire – 180%
Services of private general practitioners and health insurance
Most leading health insurers now have access to 24/7 “virtual GP” services. Meetings are usually held online or by phone, and private face-to-face consultations are only available for higher-level policies. The convenience of a virtual general practitioner is that you can talk to him at any time, which will come in handy for many who are used to waiting for an appointment. Click here to learn more about health insurance and virtual GPs.
