Recent NHS Digital data has shown that patient ratios vary widely across England, from 41,000 patients per GP at a practice in Coventry and Warwickshire, to just 96 at a Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin surgery.

This data shows worryingly large disparities in GP to patient ratios across the country and it is wholly unacceptable that patients should have to experience such variations in access to care.

The BMA state 'the Government has failed to address the longstanding recruitment and retention issues in general practice and we now have a unsafe situation where fewer GPs are being tasked with the responsibility of caring for significantly more patients.

The Government should therefore provide urgent and substantial support to enable high quality care'.