NHS: General Practitioners

Baroness Meacher Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, the resources that have been devoted to GP practice and primary care have gone up by a third in real terms since 2002. A lot of that was due to the revised GP contract. Unfortunately, that contract also allowed GP practices to opt out of out-of-hours care which, over time, has meant that patients have found it more difficult to access their GPs at evenings and weekends.

[Baroness Meacher (CB)]

My Lords, very much respecting the point about out-of-hours care, I am aware of a number of practices that are finding it extremely difficult now to recruit GPs. Will the Minister undertake a review of the impact of the now falling GP pay on recruitment and therefore on the capacity of patients to obtain appointments?

[Earl Howe]

The noble Baroness raises a very important issue. I can tell her that the department and Health Education England have commissioned an in-depth review of the GP workforce looking towards a more sustainable solution for the longer term. The final report will be published in the summer. The preliminary report suggests that increasing the supply of practice nurses and greater collaboration with specialists may help to improve effective workforce supply.