On average, there are 1,719 patients for every full-time-equivalent GP in England.
But patient-to-GP ratios vary hugely across the country, from just 89 patients per full-time GP at a surgery based in a residential home in Balham, London, to 40,875 at a practice in Stratford, London.
Regionally, the North West has the fewest patients per GP, at 1,557, while London has the most, at 1,956.
Professor Martin Marshall, who chairs the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs want to be able to consistently give their patients the personalised care they deserve, no matter where they live in the country. But the increased workload expected of GPs and their teams, coupled with the chronic shortage of GPs, is unsustainable.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Each General Practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of its patients. There is no government recommendation for how many patients should be assigned to a GP, as the demands each patient places on their GP are different and can be affected by many different factors – including rurality and patient demographics.”
The figures, a snapshot from August 31 of this year, were published by NHS Digital and include trainee GP and locums.
The GP-to-patient ratio is only one way of looking at how busy a surgery is.
Most surgeries will also have other staff treating patients, such as nurses, physiotherapists and midwives.
Sometimes, a surgery might appear to have a low number of GPs because they share staff with a neighbouring practice. Alternatively, they may have been in the process of recruiting when they supplied their staffing figures to the NHS.
Here are the surgeries with the most/fewest patients per GP in Sunderland.
1. Wearside Medical Practice
Wearside Medical Practice, in Hylton Road, was recorded as having 8,036 patients and the full-time equivalent of 0.7 GPs, meaning it has 12,156 patients per GP Photo: Tim Richardson
2. New Silksworth Medical Group
New Silksworth Medical Group in Silksworth Terrace, was recorded as having 9,552 patients and the full-time equivalent of two GPs, meaning it has 4,776 patients per GP Photo: Google Maps
3. Park Lane Practice
Park Lane Practice in City Green, was recorded as having 4,015 patients and the full-time equivalent of one GP, meaning it has 4,015 patients per GP Photo: Google Maps
4. Riverview Surgery
Riverview Surgery in Borough Road was recorded as having 6,942 patients and the full-time equivalent of two GPs, meaning it has 3,410 patients per GP Photo: Google Maps