Funding gap could leave NHS short of '16,000 GPs'

A funding gap between 2013 and 2021 could lead to a shortfall of 16,000 family doctors in England, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has said.

On Thursday NHS England reported that there would be a £30 billion gap over the next eight years if health services in England continue to deliver care in the way they do.

The RCGP has calculated that general practice will face a deficit of £2.7 billion in 2021, which based on the typical costs of employing partner and salaried GPs would lead to a further shortfall of 7,500 GPs across England.

It stated that there is already a shortfall of more than 8,300 family doctors.