Britain’s state broadcaster, the BBC, has offered a report deploring the decline in general practitioner (GP) numbers per capita, citing the “ageing” population as the prime reason, while failing to mention immigration-driven population growth.
In its report on a recent study by the Nuffield Trust, the BBC overlooked the two million-strong population growth registered since 2014, and instead focused entirely on working conditions for doctors in general practices and recruitment failings to explain the decline.
Migration Watch UK, however, condemned the report for making “no mention whatsoever” of mass migration — or even general population growth.
BBC Report on Overworked Doctors Blames Pensioners, Ignores Migration-Fuelled Population Growth https://t.co/tFSUiLsnl3
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 9, 2019
“The BBC reports today that GP numbers have fallen from 65 per 100,000 in 2014 to 60 per 100,000 last year. Unsurprisingly, they say this is due to population ageing,” the campaign group wrote.
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“The General Medical Council said last year that rising population volumes are contributing to workplace pressures on GPs. The fact is that 80% of population growth is being driven by immigration. Why is it so difficult for the BBC and politicians to acknowledge this?” they questioned.
Elaborating, the group said: “Blaming the elderly is easy, but pressure on the NHS is also driven by population growth, of which 80% since 2001 resulted directly or indirectly from immigration. While the number of nurses and midwives in the UK fell by 23% in the period 1997-2017, the UK population grew by 13%.”
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The rate at which doctors and nurses are abandoning the English NHS is putting patients at risk as overworked GPs struggle to cope with a huge workload.
— Mike Sivier (@MidWalesMike) May 8, 2019
NHS falls deeper into crisis while May — who caused it — babbles about extra funding https://t.co/lYrCpzsIRt #PoliticsLive
The issue has been further compounded by a drop of 1,500 GPs operating in the UK since 2014.
At the same time, GPs have been sounding the alarm that they are overwhelmed with patients to the extent that it’s causing preventable mistakes.
A Pulse magazine poll of 1,681 GPs found they are working an average of 11 hours per day, made up of eight hours of clinical care and three hours of admin.
The survey found that doctors are sometimes seeing twice as many patients as they should, leaving them tired, and less likely to show sympathy and congeniality towards people seeking their help.
On average, each GP is dealing with 11 more patients that the 'safe' number of 30 per day.
A March report from the King's Fund, the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation predicted that GP shortages in England would almost triple to 7,000 by 2023/24.
According to official ONS estimates, the number of people living in England will top 60 million by 2029 unless immigration levels radically fall.
The 60 million figure is an increase of more than four million over the most recent estimates and indicates that the Brexit turmoil and questions over future migration rules are yet to curb population growth.
