The NHS currently faces a chronic shortage of GPs. Why is this a problem?
How to structure your answer
Work down the list. Each step is one thing to actually say.
Start with the patient who cannot get seen
Patients who fail to access GP services deteriorate and end up adding pressure to emergency care, which worsens their outcomes and increases cost to the NHS.
Point out the prevention that is lost
Opportunities for prevention, social prescribing and holistic support are missed when there is no time and no access.
Describe the effect on GPs themselves
The stress on the GPs who remain takes a toll on their wellbeing and worsens recruitment and retention, which deepens the shortage further.
Explain the damage to the relationship
The 8am scramble and the narrative that it is impossible to see a GP damage the doctor-patient relationship before the consultation even begins.
Bring in continuity of care
Seeing the same doctor is associated with fewer hospital admissions and lower mortality, and that continuity is the first thing lost when a practice is short-staffed.
Note that appointments are already short
Ten minute appointments are already stretched, so a shortage compresses the time available for each patient even further.
Finish on inequality
Link this to the inverse care law, and to the greater difficulty that deprived areas have in recruiting GPs.
Model answer
I'd start with the patient who simply can't get an appointment, and then work outwards. If someone can't be seen, one of two things tends to happen. Either they wait, and a condition that was manageable in primary care deteriorates into something that needs emergency or hospital treatment, which is worse for them and considerably more expensive for the NHS; or they go straight to A&E or an urgent care centre, adding pressure to the part of the system least able to absorb it. So a shortage in general practice doesn't stay in general practice. The second loss is prevention. So much of what a GP does is opportunistic: checking a blood pressure, spotting a low mood in someone who came about a knee, reviewing medications, social prescribing, picking up a carer who isn't coping. That work only happens when there is time and access, and it's exactly the work that stops people becoming acutely unwell later. Third, there's the effect on GPs themselves. Fewer doctors means more patients each, longer days and greater risk of error, which takes a real toll on wellbeing and burnout. That worsens recruitment and retention, with GPs reducing sessions or leaving early, so the shortage becomes self-reinforcing. Fourth, it damages the relationship. The 8am scramble and the public narrative that it's impossible to see a GP breeds resentment, and patients who arrive already frustrated make consultations harder for everyone. Related to that is continuity of care, which isn't just a nicety: seeing the same doctor over time is associated with fewer hospital admissions and lower mortality, and a workforce shortage makes continuity almost impossible. There's also the basic problem that ten minute appointments are already stretched for patients with several long-term conditions. Finally, it worsens inequality. The inverse care law describes how availability of good care varies inversely with need, and the most deprived areas, where need is highest, are precisely the ones that struggle most to recruit and retain GPs.
Anything in square brackets is a prompt for your own example. Use your own experience there rather than reciting someone else's.
Terms explained
Use the proper term in your answer. This is what each one means.
- social prescribing
- A GP referring someone to non-medical support, such as exercise groups, debt advice or community activities, to improve their health.
- continuity of care
- Seeing the same doctor over time, so they know your history, which is linked to fewer admissions and lower mortality.
- inverse care law
- The observation that the people who most need healthcare tend to get the least of it, because services are weakest where deprivation is highest.
- recruitment and retention
- Attracting new staff into a job and keeping the ones already doing it.
- primary care
- The first place patients go for most health problems, mainly general practice, alongside pharmacy, dentistry and optometry.