According to a survey, one in four general practitioners in Germany plans to retire in the next five years. Furthermore, many general practitioners plan to reduce their weekly working hours by an average of two and a half hours by 2030, the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh announced on Wednesday. Already, more than 5,000 general practitioner positions are vacant. According to the information, this number could double within five years.
According to the survey, the reasons for this development lie in bureaucratic burdens and workload. Many of the general practitioners surveyed cite less bureaucracy and shorter, more flexible working hours as a prerequisite for staying in the profession longer. On average, the general practitioners surveyed work 44 hours per week. This is ten hours more than the average working time for all employees in Germany.
According to the Bertelsmann Foundation, fewer primary care physician positions don't necessarily have to lead to a reduction in care. "What will be important is how much time the primary care physician has available to work with patients," explained Uwe Schwenk, Director of the Bertelsmann Foundation. "The key here is to leverage previously untapped potential."
According to a joint survey conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the University of Marburg, family doctors spend around 80 percent of their working time on consultations and home visits. The rest is spent on administrative tasks, continuing education, or other activities. In this context, the Bertelsmann Foundation called for relief – also with regard to the primary care physician system envisaged in the coalition agreement. According to the federal government's plans, general practitioners should act more as a central point of contact and regulate access to specialist practices.
"It is fundamentally necessary and sensible to better manage patient flows," explained Schwenk. "However, if family doctors take on this task, it costs them time – so it will be important to relieve them as much of their workload as possible in other areas at the same time." The Bertelsmann Foundation recommended greater digitalization of tasks such as appointment management, exchange of findings, diagnostics, and treatment processes. However, digital solutions must be stable in everyday practice. It added that technical problems are already slowing down many practices. A quarter of those surveyed complained about daily software glitches in their practices.
According to the foundation, in addition to digitalization, non-medical professions could also help relieve the burden on physicians – for example, by having medical assistants or nurses take over medical tasks. Seven out of ten general practitioners surveyed consider the associated potential for relief to be significant.
For the survey, the Infas Institute, on behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation and the University of Marburg, surveyed nearly 3,700 general practitioners in Germany. The survey ran from November 2024 to February 2025 and claims to be representative.
The Association of General Practitioners (GDPs) urged relief for practices. "Reducing bureaucracy, effective digitalization, and above all, a greater delegation of tasks to our practice teams can sustainably strengthen practices," explained association chairmen Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth and Markus Beier. In order to promote young talent, family practice must also "urgently become more prominent" in medical school.
In light of the looming shortage of general practitioners, the German Foundation for Patient Protection criticized plans for a so-called primary care physician system. The proposed system would "increasingly pose an incalculable risk for elderly, care-dependent, and seriously ill people," explained foundation board member Eugen Brysch. A needs-based distribution of physicians is necessary before patient management can be implemented.
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