Doctors' practices in east Oxford are so swamped with demand that only two out of nine are enrolling new patients.

The area has suffered from a shortage of places since the beginning of the year. NHS managers claim this has been caused by problems common to deprived areas, rather than a shortage of doctors.

As a result, only Dr Richard Stevens's practice, at East Oxford Health Centre, off Cowley Road, and Dr Stephen Wood's Donnington Health Centre surgery, in Henley Avenue, are taking new patients.

A new system, set up to make sure new residents are allocated a doctor promptly, is not working and 20 people have waited longer than 48 hours to be registered.

Patients are being asked to contact Thames Valley Primary Care Agency, based in Reading, which will assign them a GP practice in east Oxford. But the agency has been inundated with applications and only emergency cases are being found places with practices within the pledged 48-hour target.

Oxford City Primary Care Trust, which oversees GPs across the city, is now working with TVPCA staff to clear the backlog.

PCT chief executive Andrea Young said: "This has apparently been caused because their computer systems are incredibly slow. Allocating doctors is quite a complex process because TVPCA has to write to doctors, who then have to accept the patients, before the patients are then informed.

"The problem at the moment is that as soon as one practice opens its list, everyone rushes there to register. In July we hope to open all nine surgeries at once."

Ms Young said the problems were not caused by a shortage of doctors. She said: "The work load is due to issues common to areas of deprivation. A high number of people suffer from chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and asthma. There are also other issues that do not necessarily need to be handled by doctors, like support for drug users, single mothers or for people who don't speak English."

"The issue for us is to find out whether we need to give each surgery a little bit of funding, or whether we need to set up programmes which may be about educative, supportive, or help with young families."

The PCT has already launched walk-in clinics to help asylum seekers settling in east Oxford. They offer general medical advice, as well as screening for diseases like TB and hepatitis B.

People unable to get a GP often go to casualty departments. But Ms Young said the problems were not affecting the John Radcliffe Hospital. She said: "This is very very unlikely. More than 90 per cent of patients in casualty have already been seen and referred to the JR by a GP.

**The Thames Valley Primary Care Agency can be contacted on 0118 9183333.