Berkshire has one of the highest levels of GP shortages across the NHS, new data reveals.
A BBC analysis has found that the NHS Trust covering West Berkshire including Wokingham and Reading have 2,535 people per GP.
While NHS Frimley, which covers areas including Surrey, Bracknell, and Slough, has 2,572 people per GP.
Across England, the average number of people per GP is 2,364, making West Berkshire have 150 more people per GP than the national average.
The number for areas in the South East sits at 150 more than the national average.
Across England, the average GP now has to care for 17 per cent more patients than they did nine years ago.
Speaking about the news at the Royal College of General Practitioners, chairwoman Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: “The numbers have shot through the roof and so has our workload. It’s not just because the patient-doctor ratio has got worse.
“It’s because, at the same time, the needs of our patients have become more complex as the population ages and many more people live with chronic diseases.”
The chairwoman added that ‘without GPs there is no NHS’, and that GPs are ‘not a dispensable resource’.
According to an annual survey from the Royal College of General Practitioners, almost 20 per cent of GPs said they feel stressed or that they can’t cope ‘most days’.
More than 40 per cent said they felt that way at least once or twice a week.
Another 40 per cent indicated they planned to leave general practice within five years, with the two biggest causes being work-life balance and stress. This comes as many of the areas in Berkshire have seen large population increases and higher housing targets placed on local authorities.
West Berkshire, Wokingham and Bracknell also have one of the lowest numbers of pharmacies per population.
Analysis by the National Pharmacy Association ranked Wokingham as having the second lowest number of pharmacies per 100,000 residents.
Clive Jones, MP for Wokingham, has organised a GP roundtable with local doctors to hear their concerns about the new findings.
Mr Jones said: “On the doorstep, I’m hearing an increasingly large number of stories from patients and their loved ones who are desperately worried that the care they need won’t be there for them. We cannot allow this inexcusable situation to go on any longer.”
The Liberal Democrat added that pressure to build more houses in the area will only ‘exacerbate’ the situation.
