GP numbers have fallen since 2019 if you exclude trainees

In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, health secretary Victoria Atkins claimed that the number of doctors working in general practice has increased since before the pandemic.

She said: “If I may on the GP point, we in fact have 2,711 more GPs working in the NHS than even in 2019.”

As we’ve written before, there are different ways to count the number of GPs. Ms Atkins’ figures are correct if you look at the total number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) GPs in England, which includes those in training. But the number of fully qualified FTE GPs has fallen over the same period. (Doctors are not officially GPs while they are training, but they do perform some of the work of GPs and so ‘GPs in Training Grade’ are included in NHS figures.) 

In March 2019 the total number of FTE GPs in England, including those in training, was 34,526. This increased to 37,237 in April 2024—a rise of 2,711, which matches the figure cited by Ms Atkins.

But during the same period the number of fully qualified FTE GPs in England—ie, not including those in training—fell by 880, from 28,486 in March 2019 to 27,606 in April this year.

Health is devolved, so the UK government is only responsible for health services in England.

Image courtesy of BBC

Update 2 June: We've updated the headline of this post, and the way we describe the total number of FTE GPs to be clearer about the metric.