The chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners has condemned “devastating” new figures showing that GPs in deprived areas of England are responsible for at least 300 more patients per doctor than those in wealthier areas, a gap that has widened over the past six years.
The RCGP analysis,1 published on 3 October ahead of its annual conference in Liverpool, showed that the number of patients per fully qualified, full time GP working in areas with the highest level of income deprivation has risen by an average of 260 in the past six years, from 2190 …
