Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth tops GP closures

A new analysis by local MP Paul Burstow MP of the number of GP surgeries in England in the last 5 years shows that Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth tops the league for closures.

The figures also revealed that 96 out of 186 (52%) of the closures have come in London and the South East.

The analysis taken from Parliamentary Questions tabled by Mr Burstow shows that:-

• The most closures of partnerships in a Health Authority in England was in Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth, where 17 surgeries (or 12.9%) closed over the last 5 years

• The most surgery closures in the regions were in the London region and South Eastern region where 48 had been closed in the last 5 years in each area

• The most single handed practices to close was in East Kent Health Authority where 17 were shut down over the last 5 years with one in six closing in the South East over the last 5 years

Paul Burstow MP said

"The figures are a damning indictment of the failure of this Government to provide universal access to healthcare. With both partnerships and single-handed practices closing in such high numbers, the people of Sutton are having to travel further in order to find out what is wrong with them.

"With an ageing GP population and delays in training new GPs, scores more surgeries up and down the country are set to close. The blind eye turned by Government to these closures is shortsighted, short term and short changes sick people.

"GP surgeries are the key gateway to providing health services through the NHS. The unstructured and unplanned closures of surgeries leaves swathes of communities without access to vital first stop diagnosis points.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Table 1 shows the number of GP surgeries by region between 1997 and 2001

All partnerships

Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 incr/decr %increase

North West 1345 1349 1349 1348 1322 -23 -1.71

West Midlands 1050 1048 1048 1041 1037 -13 -1.24

South West 761 760 767 766 761 0 0

North & Yorks 1059 1064 1054 1041 1044 -15 -1.42

Trent 893 881 877 866 863 -30 -3.36

Eastern 826 830 821 828 817 -9 -1.09

London 1739 1736 1711 1691 1691 -48 -2.76

South East 1330 1326 1317 1297 1282 -48 -3.61

England Total 9003 8994 8944 8878 8817 -186 -2.07

Table 2 shows the number of single-handed practices by region between 1997 and 2001

of which single-handed

Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 incr/decr %increase

North West 465 453 450 453 439 -26 -5.59

West Midlands 369 373 372 362 373 4 1.08

South West 100 98 98 99 91 -9 -9

North & Yorks 267 271 261 253 246 -21 -7.87

Trent 253 236 241 229 220 -33 -13.04

Eastern 188 193 183 195 192 4 2.13

London 766 754 735 717 717 -49 -6.04

South East 311 305 291 267 256 -55 -17.68

England Total 2719 2683 2631 2575 2534 -185 -6.8

For a breakdown by Health Authority, please contact stokoer@parliament.uk or call Richard Stokoe on 0207 219 1196 or 0772 0838 351

Table 3 - Number of GP Partnerships for each of the last 5 years in London and the South East

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 incr/decr %increase

Barking & Havering HA 99 96 97 97 98 -1 -1.01

Barnet, Enfield & Haringey HA 203 206 206 207 209 6 2.96

Bexley, Bromley & Greenwich HA 144 145 146 143 143 -1 -0.69

Brent & Harrow HA 124 122 120 117 119 -5 -4.03

Camden & Islington HA 102 106 98 98 97 -5 -4.90

Croydon HA 69 70 70 68 67 -2 -2.90

Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow HA 196 188 190 189 188 -8 -4.08

East London & The City HA 165 166 164 165 161 -4 -2.42

Hillingdon HA 55 55 52 53 53 -2 -3.64

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster HA 106 104 102 99 99 -7 -6.60

Kingston & Richmond HA 62 61 61 62 60 -2 -3.23

Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham HA 162 166 162 159 161 -1 -0.62

Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth HA 132 128 124 118 115 -17 -12.88

Redbridge & Waltham Forest HA 120 123 119 116 121 1 0.83

London Total 1739 1736 1711 1691 1691 -48 -2.76

Berkshire HA 116 117 121 118 118 2 1.72

Buckinghamshire HA 92 95 95 95 92 0 0.00

East Kent HA 110 109 106 102 101 -9 -8.18

East Surrey HA 62 61 60 61 57 -5 -8.06

East Sussex, Brighton & Hove HA 137 136 135 132 131 -6 -4.38

Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & South East Hampshire HA 99 96 97 96 94 -5 -5.05

North & Mid Hampshire HA 69 67 66 65 66 -3 -4.35

Northamptonshire HA 82 83 79 76 76 -6 -7.32

Oxfordshire HA 87 87 88 87 86 -1 -1.15

Southampton & South West Hampshire HA 79 78 78 79 78 -1 -1.27

West Kent HA 213 215 208 204 204 -9 -4.23

West Surrey HA 86 86 84 85 84 -2 -2.33

West Sussex HA 98 96 100 97 95 -3 -3.06

South Eastern Total 1330 1326 1317 1297 1282 -48 -3.61

Table 4 shows the number of single handed practices for each Health Authority in London and the South East for each of the last 5 years

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 incr/decr %increase

Barking & Havering HA 57 51 53 50 54 -3 -5.26

Barnet, Enfield & Haringey HA 86 91 94 95 93 7 8.14

Bexley, Bromley & Greenwich HA 58 59 62 55 58 0 0.00

Brent & Harrow HA 54 53 51 49 46 -8 -14.81

Camden & Islington HA 49 56 46 46 44 -5 -10.20

Croydon HA 24 23 25 24 27 3 12.50

Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow HA 94 84 86 90 89 -5 -5.32

East London & The City HA 75 77 72 74 75 0 0.00

Hillingdon HA 21 23 18 22 19 -2 -9.52

Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster HA 59 57 54 48 46 -13 -22.03

Kingston & Richmond HA 18 18 18 18 15 -3 -16.67

Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham HA 62 62 60 57 56 -6 -9.68

Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth HA 46 42 39 35 32 -14 -30.43

Redbridge & Waltham Forest HA 63 58 57 54 63 0 0.00

London Total 766 754 735 717 717 -49 -6.40

Berkshire HA 27 29 31 30 28 1 3.70

Buckinghamshire HA 9 13 11 9 5 -4 -44.44

East Kent HA 47 43 37 31 30 -17 -36.17

East Surrey HA 10 11 11 12 11 1 10.00

East Sussex, Brighton & Hove HA 44 39 39 34 34 -10 -22.73

Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & South East Hampshire HA 13 10 11 10 8 -5 -38.46

North & Mid Hampshire HA 9 6 6 5 7 -2 -22.22

Northamptonshire HA 10 12 12 10 8 -2 -20.00

Oxfordshire HA 10 10 8 8 6 -4 -40.00

Southampton & South West Hampshire HA 13 12 11 11 10 -3 -23.08

West Kent HA 93 96 89 82 85 -8 -8.60

West Surrey HA 16 16 14 15 14 -2 -12.50

West Sussex HA 10 8 11 10 10 0 0.00

South Eastern Total 311 305 291 267 256 -55 -17.68

As can be seen from the graph below, the number of GPs set to retire is increasing dramatically. Taken from 'A report into the Ageing GP workforce' By Paul Burstow , published May 2001