Doctors: Unemployment

The Office for National Statistics published an analysis showing the number of unemployed people by last occupation at the time of the 2021 Census. This estimated that on the census day, there were 2,200 unemployed people whose last profession was either General Medical Practitioner or Specialist Medical Practitioner. This equates to approximately 0.7% of the registered doctors at the time. No more recent estimate is held by the Department. Further information on the 2021 Census is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/datasets/characteristicsofthosenotinemploymentasofcensusday2021detailedoccupationestimates

Within weeks of coming into office, we committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. We have now recruited an extra 1,738 GPs into general practice to deliver more appointments.