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NHS · Primary care · England · August 2026

Can people get primary care?

General practice delivers about 388 million appointments a year. There are 29,223 full-time-equivalent fully qualified GPs — back to the 2015 level after years of decline — but each serves 2,160 registered patients, against 1,938 in 2015.

Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026

GPs and patients

Are there more or fewer GPs?

Fully qualified GP numbers fell until 2023 and are now back to 2015 levels

Full-time-equivalent fully qualified GPs (partners, salaried GPs and regular locums; excluding trainees and ad-hoc locums), England.

England · September 2015 to August 2026

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

Thousands of FTE GPsNo observations shown0k10k20k30k40k20002010202029.2k
The number of fully qualified GPs fell from 29,364 in September 2015 to a low of 27,153 in June 2023, while the population grew, and has recovered to 29,223 as funding for practices to employ newly qualified GPs was expanded from 2024. Trainee GPs and other staff — nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists — have grown faster, so total practice capacity has risen more than this line suggests.

England · September 2015 to August 2026 · Official statistics

Sources, definitions and data — Fully qualified GP numbers fell until 2023 and are now back to 2015 levels
Geography:
England
Measure:
Full-time equivalent GPs
Period:
September 2015 to August 2026
Status:
Official statistics
Calculation:
As published (bulletin tables).
Compare with:
September 2015: 29,364
Not included / breaks:
Half-yearly before June 2021, then quarterly and monthly. Excluding all locums, permanent fully qualified GPs number 28,598.

Source: NHS England (NHS Digital), General Practice Workforce. Chart NHS-09.

View the data as a table
MonthFTE GPsPatients per GP
Sep 201529,3641,938
Sep 201629,4741,963
Sep 201729,1292,014
Sep 201828,4892,083
Sep 201928,1822,129
Sep 202027,9392,161
Sep 202127,9202,190
Sep 202227,5562,248
Sep 202327,3022,300
Sep 202427,9662,273
Sep 202528,5162,241
Aug 202629,2232,160

How many patients does each GP serve?

Each fully qualified GP serves 2,160 patients, against 1,938 in September 2015 (peak 2,305)

Registered patients per full-time-equivalent fully qualified GP, England.

England · September 2015 to August 2026

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

Patients per FTE GPNo observations shown01,0002,0002000201020202,160
Patients per GP rose every year to 2,305 in July 2023 and have fallen since, as GP numbers recovered. The number of GP practices has also fallen, but mostly through mergers: a merger changes how practices are organised, not how many GPs or appointments there are, so practice counts are not a measure of capacity.

England · September 2015 to August 2026 · UK Facts calculation from official statistics

Sources, definitions and data — Each fully qualified GP serves 2,160 patients, against 1,938 in September 2015 (peak 2,305)
Geography:
England
Measure:
Patients per FTE GP
Period:
September 2015 to August 2026
Status:
UK Facts calculation from official statistics
Calculation:
UK Facts calculation: registered patients ÷ FTE fully qualified GPs; within about 1% of NHS England’s own rate per 100,000 patients.
Compare with:
September 2015: 1,938
Not included / breaks:
Registered patient lists include some people who have moved away or died (“list inflation”).

Source: NHS England (NHS Digital), General Practice Workforce. Chart NHS-10.

View the data as a table
MonthPatients per GP
Aug 20212,193
Aug 20222,248
Aug 20232,301
Aug 20242,282
Aug 20252,247
Aug 20262,160

Appointments

About 388 million GP practice appointments in the last 12 months

Appointments in general practice, England, by month (all staff types, all modes). Months differ in working days, so compare like months. Source: NHS England, Appointments in General Practice; only the latest 30 months are published on a consistent basis.

Appointments a month0m20m40mSep ’25Nov ’25Jan ’26Mar ’26May ’26Jul ’26Aug ’2629m

Appointments are with GPs and with nurses, pharmacists and other practice staff, in person, by phone or online. What patients report — difficulty getting through by phone, not knowing when they will be seen — is not captured by appointment counts, which measure supply rather than unmet demand.

The number of practices has fallen, mainly through mergers into larger practices. That changes how care is organised, not the number of GPs or appointments, so we do not treat it as lost capacity.

Where GP access fails, demand shifts to NHS 111 and A&E — see patient flow.

Sources and methods (2)

Method notes

  • Fully qualified GPs include partners, salaried GPs and regular locums; trainees and ad-hoc locums are excluded.
  • Patients per GP is a UK Facts calculation from the same publication.