David Mummery is a GP in London
Dear Mr Streeting and Mr Kinnock,
I hope this letter is finding you well.
You may be aware that currently in General Practice we are in the grip of an unemployment crisis across large areas of the UK. Many GPs of all ages, including possibly thousands of GPs who are just about to qualify, are not able to get jobs as GPs, which they have trained ten years for, at great personal and public expense.1
The options therefore are limited, as I’m sure you are aware people have to: earn a living, support themselves and their families, pay mortgages, have debts to pay off and have hard-earned GP skills to use.
We are yet to hear from you what you plan to do about this crisis and GP jobs paradox.
Several times a week I get emails from New Zealand, Australia and Canada enquiring whether I would like to work there for several hundred thousand dollars a year.
Several times a week I get emails from New Zealand, Australia and Canada enquiring whether I would like to work there for several hundred thousand dollars a year. A particularly common email comes from the Nova Scotia health board in Canada, asking if I want a job.
It looks like a lovely part if the world with whales, a beautiful coastline and beaches, fresh seafood, friendly inhabitants and a proud history; being of Scottish ancestry myself I am extremely tempted by the offer, as I am sure many hundreds and possibly thousands of other GPs are as well.2
That is why we need to hear from you extremely urgently about what is going to be done about the current GP jobs crisis.
Please can you give us an idea of your plans, otherwise later on this year, you may be receiving another letter from us in Nova Scotia, written whilst watching frolicking dolphins from a jetty, Moosehead beer in hand, having just finished a satisfying and well remunerated afternoon clinic.
As The Proclaimers might say, “Bristol no more, Manchester no more, Leeds no more, Glasgow no more, Cardiff no more, Belfast no more, Birmingham no more, Edinburgh no more, London no more…“3
With best wishes.
Yours Sincerely.
David
References
- https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/breaking-news/up-to-1000-gp-registrars-face-unemployment-this-summer-bma-warns-streeting/ [accessed 4/6/25]
- https://nshdocs.morethanmedicine.ca/opportunities [accessed 4/6/25]
- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yy9GmieAEaQ&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD [accessed 4/6/25]
Featured Photo by Anthony Maw on Unsplash
