The number of patients registered with GPs in West London has soared by more than three per cent in just 18 months.
An extra 7,283 people were signed up with a surgery in the region in October this year compared to April 2014. Seven practices saw their total number of registered patients increase by more than 20% over the same period.
Across the whole of the NHS West London CCG area - covering Kensington and Chelsea, Queens Park and Paddington - the average number of patients signed up with each surgery is now 4,269. There were 231,793 patients in April last year, compared to 239,076 now - a rise of 3.1%.
The news comes with GPs under unprecedented pressure to provide more access to more people.
The coalition has promised to provide an extra £400m over five years in return for doctors opening from 8am to 8pm, and at weekends. They also want every patient to have a single named GP responsible for their out-of-hospital care. But the British Medical Association has warned the plans will be impossible to deliver without hiring thousands of extra doctors.
Across England, the number of people signed up with a GP increased by 682,965 - or more than 1,250 a DAY - in the 18 months to October.
