Half the surgeries in London are suffering staff shortages and a third have at least one GP vacancy, meaning that many patients are turning to their nearest A&E instead, causing huge difficulties in local hospitals.

According to a survey by the London-wide LMC organisation that represents 7,000 GPs and 1,300 practice teams in the capital, there are GP vacancies in 37 per cent of the 628 practices that responded.

In addition, 49 per cent reported staff vacancies of some form and 3 per cent said they planned to close their doors within the next three years. A further 28 per cent said growing patient demand and increased workload meant they were unable to rule out closure in the coming years, putting the care of 1.4 million patients in jeopardy.

A spokeswoman for Londonwide LMCs said that while current GPs, practice nurses and their teams are working flat out to fill in the gaps, they are at breaking point and need help to deal with the growing complexity of London’s health needs.

According to the survey’s results, without increased support, the future of community general practice looks very gloomy, as delivering the current service with fewer staff is unsustainable and unsafe in the long term, let alone stretching to an extended seven-day service.

The survey’s findings reflect those of think tank the Health Foundation, which concluded recently that NHS staffing has been a victim of a “boom and bust” approach to workforce that cannot be allowed to continue.

However, its report adds that more effective use of temporary staff and international recruitment could buy time while a more sustainable approach is implemented by NHS England.