THE number of GPs in Wiltshire and the wider area is rising despite warnings of a crippling shortage in doctors.

The Health Foundation warns that serious workforce shortfalls across English GP services pose a significant risk to the quality of health care over the next decade.

But NHS England figures show there were the equivalent of 589 full-time GPs in the NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG area at the end of May.

This was up from 579 in June 2021. A total of 262 were partners, 175 were salaried GPs and 113 were in training, along with 25 regular locum GPs and 13 GPs on retainer.

Across England, there were 35,626 GPs in full time employment at the end of May – up from 34,726 at the end of June.

But new analysis by the Health Foundation’s REAL Centre suggests there is currently a shortage of around 4,200 full-time GPs nationwide.

Researchers project this could rise to around 10,700 by 2030/31, and if an increasing number leave the profession due to burnout, the estimated shortfall could double.

The Government has promised to recruit 6,000 extra by 2024, but the Health Foundation says it is unlikely to do achieve this.

Director of research Anita Charlesworth said: "It’s sobering that over the next decade things are set to get worse, not better.

"General practice is vital for a high quality and efficient health system, but the pressures it faces are longstanding, significant, and growing."

She added that the government urgently needs to retain existing GPs and practice nurses, to ensure that sufficient numbers are trained for the future.

The Royal College of GPs said the worst-case scenarios of the Health Foundation findings would be a "disaster for patient care and the NHS as a whole".

The Department of Health and Social Care said a record-breaking number of GPs started training last year.

A DHSC spokesman said: “We are hugely grateful to GPs and their staff for the care they provide to patients and we are working hard to support and grow the workforce in order to bust the Covid backlogs.

“We have invested £520 million to expand GP capacity during the pandemic, on top of £1.5 billion until 2024 and we are making 4,000 training places available for GPs each year to help create an extra 50 million appointments a year.”