The latest workforce data showed that the NHS had the equivalent of 27,670 fully qualified full-time GPs in June 2024.

There are the equivalent of 1,694 fewer fully qualified full time GPs than in September 2015 and the number of GP practices in England has decreased by 90 over the past year.  

This fall in both staff numbers and GP practices coincides with a rise in patients: as of June 2024, there was another record-high of 63.4 million patients registered in England – an average of 10,101 patients registered per practice.

As a result, each full-time equivalent GP is now responsible for an average of 2,291 patients, which is an increase of 354 patients per GP, or about 18%, since 2015.   

The latest appointment data shows that that over 28.6 million standard appointments were booked in June 2024, with an average of 1.43 million appointments per working day. Over the past year, approximately 367.1 million appointments were booked in England. 

In terms of access, 44% of appointments in June 2024 were booked to take place on the same day. 44.6% of appointments were delivered by a GP in June 2024, and almost 65% of appointments were booked face to face.

See more infographics and data here, showing the pressures in general practice.