Complaints against medical practices in south Essex rise

It follows a trend across England, where written complaints made against primary care providers have risen by 35 per cent since 2018-19, largely driven by a 44 per cent increase in the number of complaints made against GPs.

The Royal College of GPs said the national rise is "sad and troubling", but said the family doctor service has withered over the last decade, with no longer enough GPs to meet demand.

NHS England figures show 2,620 complaints were submitted against GPs, dentists and other primary care services in the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board area in 2022-23 – up from 1,708 in 2018-19.

It meant every region across the country saw a rise in the number of complaints made.

Of the resolved cases, 32 per cent were upheld following an investigation.

Nationally, 126,000 complaints were made – up from 120,000 the year before. Of them, 32 per cent were upheld, the lowest proportion since comparable records began in 2016-17.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "The unfortunate reality is that our hard-working and committed GPs often end up the 'fall guys' for the Government’s failure to appropriately resource and fund primary care.

"Everyone working in general practice is trying to do their very best for their patients, but in increasingly difficult circumstances.

"Our family doctor service has been allowed to wither on the vine for over a decade and we no longer have enough GPs to meet demand."

Further NHS England figures show there were 27,302 full-time-equivalent GPs excluding those in training across England as of September – down from 28,486 in March 2019.

However, in Mid and South Essex, the number of fully qualified FTE GPs has risen from 489 to 512.

A spokesman for the NHS said staff are "working hard to cope with increased demand", with GPs delivering half a million more appointments each week than before the pandemic.