An exodus of GPs leaving to work abroad or take early retirement means surgeries across England are in crisis, experts warned last night. The number of family doctors applying to work in Australia, Canada and other countries where they can earn more for fewer hours has jumped by 40 per cent in just five years. And around 22,400 GPs – more than half of England’s 40,200 family doctors – want to retire before the usual age of 60, separate figures show. Lured away: Online ads promises British doctors ‘more money’ and ‘great earning potential’ if they leave Britain for Australia (file image) Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the situation as worrying and promised to make ‘important changes’ to the NHS to ease the pressure on GPs. Some surgeries in Cumbria are so desperate for staff they are paying locum GPs £850 a day to stand in, a new BBC Inside Out documentary has discovered. It follows the Mail’s revelation last week how one practice, in Swinton, South Yorkshire, was making patients wait four weeks for an appointment. Krishna Kasaraneni, a GP at the Crown Street Surgery, told Inside Out that three of its doctors had moved to Australia and Canada since last summer due to ‘unsustainable daily pressure’. The programme, being broadcast tonight, also obtained figures from the General Medical Council that revealed 792 GPs were given ‘Certificates of Good Standing’ last year to allow them to practise abroad. This compares to 576 in 2008 and 562 in 2009. Crisis: Some surgeries in Cumbria are so desperate for staff they are paying locum GPs £850 a day to stand in, a new BBC Inside Out documentary has discovered (file photo) The NHS is currently advertising in medical magazines in Australia to try to lure back British doctors, promising a ‘fully funded induction and returner scheme’. On top of the exodus to foreign climes, 56 per cent of GPs ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ expect to leave the profession before their 60th birthday, according to a survey of 1,004 family doctors carried out by Inside Out. Dr David Jones, 46, who formerly practised in Manchester, moved to Perth, Western Australia, over a year ago. He said: ‘We arrived in November 2013. It’s wonderful here. We do 45 hours a week and weekends are off to enjoy the sunshine. I’m very, very proud of what my colleagues at home do. They do an incredibly difficult job. They get assaulted from all sides. ‘I do feel guilty to some extent. When a government invests so much money in a profession you are a national asset to that country. But the way that asset is being treated in that country, it’s just pushing people away. It’s reached a point where people are just saying no, I’m not doing this any more. ‘We shouldn’t be here. Had our profession been looked after as it should have been we wouldn’t think about leaving.’ The website GP Jobs in Australia promises British doctors ‘more money’ and ‘great earning potential’. It adds: ‘Typical earnings start from £145,000 and rise to £195,000 per annum after a few years’ experience.’ But it says doctors working in rural locations can earn ‘considerably more’, adding: ‘Compared to the NHS, there’s less hassle, less bureaucracy, more medicine and money.’ Younger doctors are not plugging the gaps, with up to one in eight GP training posts unfilled. They are instead choosing the more attractive career paths as hospital specialists or surgeons. The situation has become so dire that 1,063 GPs are needed just to return to the patient-to-doctor ratio of 2009, according to separate figures released by the House of Commons Library. Under the previous Labour government, GPs benefited hugely by a new contract that saw average salaries soar to £105,000 a year and enabled GPs to opt out of evening and weekend work. But many doctors now say they are dismayed by the volume of paperwork, the demands of the ageing population and the insufficient funds given to surgeries by the Government. Mr Hunt said yesterday: ‘What I hope GPs recognise is the things they’ve said to us are worrying them are being addressed. 'They said they didn’t like the targets they have, what are called the QOF targets, and we’ve reduced those by 40 per cent. ‘They said they needed more money to invest in their premises and we put in this extra money in the Autumn Statement. ‘These things don’t happen overnight so I would urge people to bear with us while we make these really important changes. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘David Cameron promised to put GPs at the heart of the NHS – but instead caused a new GP recruitment crisis. It is getting harder and harder to get a GP appointment as a result.’
Online ads promises British GPs more money for less hours in Australia . Number of doctors applying to work abroad has jumped by 40 per cent . More than half of England’s family doctors want to retire before 60 .