Swindon has fewer GPs than the England average

And NHS bosses are worried they will continue to struggle to recruit and retain young family doctors, as Swindon loses out to the bright lights of Bath and Bristol.

Figures presented to the Swindon NHS Clinical Commissioning Group yesterday showed that surgeries in the town had on average 0.8 full-time equivalent GPs per 1,000 patients registered with a practice in December 2018.

By comparison, across England there was one GP for every 1,000 patients registered at a surgery.

Kate Liddington, associate director of primary care at Swindon CCG, told a meeting of the organisation’s governing body yesterday morning: “We know and we have known for some time that Swindon does struggle compared to the national average in terms of its GP numbers.”

Previously, NHS chiefs have said Swindon is short by around 25 GP doctors. Ms Liddington warned executives there was also an issue of “age profile challenges” – shorthand for GPs being close to retirement age.

However, while doctor numbers were an area of concern, she said Swindon and the wider Bath, North West Somerset and Wiltshire area was employing more health professionals in surgeries who were not GPs.

“We have a higher number of advanced nurse practitioners, physios and others that are now delivering frontline services to our patients,” she said.

Dr Liz Alden, who has responsibility for training new GPs, had a warning for her colleagues on the CCG governing body.

“We are still having problems recruiting GPs and new GP trainees into the area,” she said.

“This year, although not finalised yet, we have significantly less retention of the GP trainees that we do train compared to our Bath colleagues, for example.”

The meeting heard that changes to the GP contract could be positive. Sarah Bruen, the CCG’s new clinical chairman, said: “I think the last few years of general practice have been very difficult regarding workforce and increased workload.

“We know we’ve got an increasing population, we’ve got a lot of patients of increasing complexity.”

The pressure had created more stress for staff, encouraging people to leave. She said: “It’s been a difficult few years.”

Last year, the CCG said it was looking at recruiting GPs from abroad in an attempt to plug the gaps. Deputy chief executive Nikki Millin urged people to consider alternatives to the doctor.

Speaking at the AGM, she said: “One of the things we are doing is to say there are other types of workforce that can work within general practice who will support the GPs, so some of you in your GP surgery may see a clinical pharmacist when you want to have a discussion about your drugs.”