GP shortage: Nurses and pharmacists could step in for doctors

A landmark report being released today warns that GP numbers will not meet demand within the next decade, meaning alternative medical staff will be used to plug the gap.

Thousands of staff will have to be brought in to ease the workload of overstretched family doctors, the study said.

The new medics would all be based within local GP surgeries under the new plan.

The suggestion is part of a drastic plan by think-tanks the Health Foundation, the Nuffield Trust and the King's Fund to avert a catastrophic NHS staffing crisis.

Britain has an estimated shortage of 2,500 GPs.

This could rise to 7,000 in five years and 11,500 by 2028, if trends continue, the report claims.

Richard Murray, chief executive of the King's Fund, said: "If you don't use the additional staff groups, you will not sort the GP problems.

"Around 20 per cent of patients that see GPs are there for musculoskeletal conditions.

"This is exactly what physio-therapists are trained for, this is what they do. For pharmacists, there's a lot of work that GPs do that is repeat prescribing, repeat dispensing and medication reviews. Pharmacists can already do all of that."

Challenges NHS England has already pledged to recruit 22,000 staff to support family doctors within five years - including physios, pharmacists and paramedics.

However, the Royal College of GPs warned that the specialists must not be seen as replacements for GPs.

Chairwoman Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said: "We agree with the writers of this report that the GP workforce faces significant challenges but we disagree that these are insurmountable.

"The wider practice team are pivotal in supporting us to deliver care. "But they are not GPs and must never be seen as direct substitutes or used to fill the gaps long-term where numbers of GPs are insufficient."

The proposals would require a £900million increase in the annual budget for training of healthcare workers by 2024, the report added.

The report also claimed that total staff shortages across the NHS could reach a quarter of a million by 2030.

SCANDAL OF DYING TO GO HOME

Up to 10,000 Britons die in hospital every year while awaiting urgent care to help them spend their final days at home, figures suggest.

People who are dying or have a "rapidly deteriorating condition" are entitled to an NHS package known as Fast Track Continuing Healthcare.

Enabling them to be supported outside of hospital, it should be delivered within 48 hours.

But a report by terminal illness charity Marie Curie found that provision varies widely across the UK.

Patients at 30 Clinical Commissioning Groups waited more than a week, while eight groups kept patients waiting more than 12 days.

Matthew Reed, of Marie Curie, said: "No one wants to be stuck in hospital at an already difficult time if they don't need to be."

AUTISM 'RISK FROM PESTICIDES'

Exposure at an early age to common pesticides could increase risk of autism, research suggested yesterday.

People who came into contact with agricultural pesticides in their first year of life were slightly more likely to develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a study found.

Scientists at the University of California looked at almost 3,000 patients with autism and 35,000 healthy people.

Participants were born between 1998 and 2010 in California's Central Valley, a heavily agricultural region, and 80 per cent of cases were male.

Data from the state's Pesticide Use Registry was used to assess participants' exposure to 11 common pesticides.

The link was strongest for patients at the severe end of the spectrum.