In recent years there have been growing concerns about maintaining a sustainable workforce within primary care across Greater Manchester. For example, the number of unfilled GP posts quadrupled between 2012 and 2014, while the numbers of GPs fell substantially.
Despite new government measures in 2015 designed to train an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020 and boost the proportion of medical students choosing general practice as a career, it has emerged that more than 1,000 GPs left between 2016 and 2017.
In addition the number of trainee GPs staying in the county following the completion of their training is uncertain and GPs within their first five years are also leaving the local workforce.
Although the initial workforce concerns were primarily about GP recruitment and retention, these issues are now affecting the wider general practice workforce and other areas of primary care including dentistry, pharmacy and optometry.
The Greater Manchester Primary Care Careers platform https://gmprimarycarecareers.org.uk has been developed by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care to promote a sustainable and thriving primary care workforce across Greater Manchester. Use it to find out more about working in primary care, living and working in Greater Manchester and access the latest job vacancies from the NHS Jobs website.