GPs are finding it harder to find work after a scheme designed to bring pharmacists and physician associates into surgeries slashed vacancies, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.

A Pulse survey found 44 per cent of family doctors said they had seen a reduction in the number of vacancies advertised in the last year.

The GP publication said medical leaders put the fall down to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, introduced in 2019 as a means of bolstering general practice capacity, allowing primary care networks to claim back on the salaries and some costs.

Dr Malinga Ratwatte, chairman of the BMA’s GP registrars (trainees) committee, said GPs who have stopped working full-time due to workload “have sought to mitigate this by taking up different roles as part of a portfolio career.”

He added: “We are worried that the expansion of reimbursement scheme roles is going to exacerbate the workforce crisis, and we are worried we are travelling in the wrong direction.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.