ALMOST all GP surgeries in Swindon have been given a good rating by the Care Quality Commission – a major achievement when they are facing huge pressure, says a town doctor.

David Heaton made the observation after his own practice Old Town Surgery was rated good following its latest CQC inspection.

“I think everybody understands how stretched GP surgeries are in Swindon,” he said. “We have got a very significant recruitment and retention difficulty.”

Earlier this month another local doctor, Peter Swinyard told the Advertiser surgeries were at breaking point because they were being starved of resources so much it was becoming difficult to attract new doctors into the job.

And just a few days ago a leaked letter from an NHS England official suggested vulnerable surgeries could close.

It is understood a recent survey of the workforce in the Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group shows a significant number of vacancies and the ratio of patients to GPs is higher than the Department of Health guidelines of 1,800 to one.

A rapidly expanding town was creating very challenging environment for surgery staff, said Dr Heaton.

“They are having to go above and beyond, working long days, working fast. We hope in some areas we are working smarter.”

Making sure patients were directed to the right service and increased use of triage nurses was helping. He also thought there was scope for community pharmacists to do more.

Managing people’s expectations was necessary., he said.

“They expect a fast response from GP services and it isn’t always possible to deliver that.”

“It is just remarkable that GP services are continuing to deliver what the CQC would recognise as being good practice,” said Doctor Heaton.

“At the moment it is not attractive at all, which is why we have a recruitment problem.”

“We all feel quite stressed,” he said. “Our staff leave when they feel they cannot cope with the stress any more. That’s the challenge for us.”

Surgeries tried to recruit the right staff, train them and keep hold of them, but it was difficult. “The job is just so relentless,” he said.

Receptionists were among those bearing the brunt of patient disappointment and in some cases, aggression. “We have not got the infinite capacity to fit more and more patients in. It is a very difficult role for receptionists.”

The Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group was approached for information on the latest workforce survey but no one was available.