A LEADING North-East GP has warned of a looming recruitment crisis in general practice.

Dr John Canning, a Middlesbrough GP who sits on one of the British Medical Association’s national committees, said the region was heading for a double whammy caused by a shortage of newly qualified doctors choosing to become family doctors and increasing numbers of older GPs taking early retirement.

The GP, who is secretary of the Cleveland Local Medical Committee, said there were also concerns about the age profile of practice nurses in the region with many approaching retirement age at the same time.

Dr Canning warned that manpower shortages in general practice could make it more difficult for the NHS to move to a more 24/7 basis.

“I have heard that there were 150 vacant GP places available but fewer than 40 applicants,” said Dr Canning, who is one of seven GPs who work at the busy Endeavour practice in Middlesbrough, serving more than 7,700 patients.

“There are very few doctors who trained with me who are still working full time. My generation are looking to get out of general practice and the outlook is rather worrying,” he added.

He predicted that the problem with recruiting newly qualified doctors into general practice in the region would come to a head in three years time when the current crop of trainee doctors finished their general practice training and would have to choose their future specialism.

“Practices are finding that very small numbers are applying for posts and many young doctors are choosing to go abroad,” he added.

Dr Canning warned that plans to move the NHS to a more 24/7 basis would struggle because of a shortage of qualified staff in general practice.

He also warned against any attempt to reverse the change to the GP contract introduced by the last Labour Government in 2004, which removed the requirement for family doctors to do their own out-of-hours consultations.

Dr Canning said the changes were necessary because of the crisis in GP recruitment in the late 1990s and the realisation that allowing family doctors to work very long hours was potentially dangerous for patients.

“Most doctors are working 50 to 60 hours a week. To be in someone’s house at 2am and then back in the surgery at 8am means that you will not be at your best,” he added.