PATIENTS are being hit by a critical shortage of GPs as surgeries face closure across the county.

Every day an estimated 10,000 people contact their family doctor in Dorset but hundreds are being forced to wait weeks to get an appointment due to a GP recruitment crisis.

Top doctors have issued a stark warning that services are ‘stretched to breaking point’ with the situation the ‘worst ever seen’.

Now under plans being drawn up by the NHS, GP surgeries could close to ‘allow more services to be consistently delivered across the county for more hours of the day and days of the week.’

The British Medical Association (BMA) told the Dorset Echo more than 300 GP practices in England, including 30 in southern England revealed in a recent survey they were facing closure in the near future.

Dr Forbes Watson, Chair NHS Dorset CCG and local GP, said: “The situation we are facing in Dorset is in line with the national picture. Nationally fewer doctors than are needed have been trained and fewer are choosing to work with the NHS which has a knock on effect for those entering General Practice and becoming GPs."

Many surgeries in Dorset are struggling to cope with demand. A new website called Doorway to Dorset, set up specifically to promote the area, is advertising more than 18 GP vacancies in the county alone.

Abbotsbury Road surgery in Weymouth has issued an online warning saying long waits are to be expected ‘due to increased patient demand and a national shortage of GPs’, and asking patients to ‘bear with us in this difficult time.'

Dr Watson added: "We are working closely with practices across the county to help them with recruitment, retention and the support of staff to enable local people to have access to the services they need. "

NHS England, which needs to find £22bn in efficiency savings by 2020-21 said reorganising local services is ‘essential’ to improve patient care but has promised no changes will be made without local engagement and where required, consultation.

The sustainability and transformation plan (STP) for Dorset, which forms part of a package of NHS reforms across the country, proposes ‘integrated teams’ to ‘deliver more and better services from a fewer number of sites than the 13 community hospitals with beds and 135 primary care sites that currently operate across Dorset.’ These 135 sites include 98 GP practices.

Dr Jon Orrell, of Royal Crescent Surgery, said: "It's a national problem that has been brewing for several years, we have too many older GP’s leaving early and not enough new recruits coming through. To carry on we need half the number of doctors coming out of medical school and we are only getting about a quarter.

"The NHS is founded on the bedrock of general practice. We do 85% of the work for the NHS for 8% of the budget.”