Number of GP practices in England falls below 6,000 as partners hand back contracts
Figures show 212 practices closed or merged in a year, with South Yorkshire and the Black Country losing the most, as doctors say the partnership model is ‘quietly dying’
The number of GP practices in England has fallen below 6,000 for the first time, according to NHS data published on Thursday, with 212 practices closing or merging in the year to September and the proportion of GPs who are partners rather than salaried employees dropping below half.
There were 5,961 practices at the end of September, down from 8,200 in 2013. Most of the decline reflects mergers into larger practices and primary care networks, but 48 practices in the past year closed outright after partners handed their contracts back to the NHS, the highest number on record. South Yorkshire lost 19 practices and the Black Country 14.
Dr Sanjay Rathore, 58, handed back the contract for his practice in Barnsley in June after 26 years as a partner. The practice, which had 9,400 patients, is now run by a private provider on a temporary contract. “I was the last partner standing. Two retired, one went salaried in Leeds, and nobody would buy in because the building needed £400,000 of work and the income did not cover it,” he said. “I did not retire. I surrendered.”
The partnership model, under which GPs own their practice and contract with the NHS as independent businesses, has underpinned general practice since 1948. Its defenders say it gives practices the freedom to innovate and keeps costs low; its critics say it has become a trap in which doctors carry personal liability for buildings and staff while income is set centrally.
Dr Rachel Tyndall, chair of the local medical committee in Barnsley, said partnerships were “quietly dying, one retirement at a time”. “No GP under 40 wants to take on a 20-year lease and 30 staff for £5,000 a year more than they would get as a salaried doctor with a pension and no risk,” she said. “The NHS has known this for a decade and has done nothing to make it worth doing.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said the number of patients per practice had risen because practices were bigger, not because care had got worse, and pointed to a 7% increase in full-time-equivalent GPs since 2024. A spokesperson said a new contract to be negotiated for 2027 would include “a modernised partnership offer”.
Patient groups were less sanguine. In Barnsley, Rathore’s former practice has moved to a telephone triage system; patients say they can no longer see a doctor they know. “He delivered my daughter’s care for 20 years,” said Maureen Ashby, 71. “Now I get a different voice every time, and they all ask me the same questions.”
Across England, the average practice now has 10,500 patients, almost double the figure in 2013.
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