Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of full time employed (a) qualified GPs and (b) training grade GPs in the general practice workforce in (i) London and (ii) England in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The following table shows the number of qualified salaried general practitioners (GPs) employed in the general practice workforce on a full time basis of 37.5 hours a week in England since 2015, headcount.
| Number of headcount salaried GPs working 37.5 hours and over per week |
September 2015 | 1,480 |
September 2016 | 1,569 |
September 2017 | 1,554 |
September 2018 | 1,541 |
September 2019 | 1,497 |
September 2020 | 1,483 |
September 2021 | 1,554 |
Notes:
The following table shows the number of GPs employed in the general practice workforce on a full time basis in England in each year between 2010 and 2014, headcount. This data was collected through the general practice census, which recorded the details of GPs in England along with information on their practices, staff, patients and the services they provide. General practice workforce statistics from prior to 2015 are not comparable to the official statistics produced since September 2015, due to differences in data sources and methodologies.
| Number of headcount other GPs working 37.5 hours and over per week |
September 2010 | 5,109 |
September 2011 | 4,608 |
September 2012 | 5,298 |
September 2013 | 6,343 |
September 2014 | 7,266 |
As independent contractors to the National Health Service, GP partners are not considered to be employed by their practice. The information requested for GPs in London and those in training grade is not held centrally.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were told they had been taken off of the cancer Patient Tracking List in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The cancer Patient Tracking List (PTL) is a monitoring tool used by hospitals for management of their waiting lists. Data is not collected on whether patients are notified about their removal from the PTL. However, a patient is removed from the 62-day pathway and PTL monitoring when:
- the organisation communicates to the patient that a cancer diagnosis has been excluded;
- a first definitive treatment has been completed or permitted enabling treatment;
- a patient declines treatment;
- a patient chooses to receive treatment privately; and
- death occurs before treatment.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what oversight of cancer Patient Tracking Lists is undertaken by (a) the UK Health Security Agency and (b) his Department.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England collects management information on the number of patients on the Patient Tracker Log waiting for cancer treatment and whether they have waited less than 62 days, more than 62 days or more than 104 days. This data is reviewed at weekly and monthly intervals by the Department. NHS England also publish national data on the number of people waiting more than 62 days each month.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in Sexual Assault Referral Centres in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The information requested is not held centrally. Each Sexual Assault Referral Centre is delivered by an independent community-based healthcare provider.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has his Department allocated in funding to Sexual Assault Referral Centres in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The following table shows expenditure by NHS England and NHS Improvement on Sexual Assault Referral Centres in each of the last five years.
2016/17 | £23,014,000 |
2017/18 | £24,312,000 |
2018/19 | £32,316,000 |
2019/20 | £33,186,000 |
2020/21 | £38,998,000 |
Note:
It should be noted that that due to a change in service commissioning, expenditure in 2020/21 also includes Sexual Assault and Abuse Services more widely.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of abuse experienced by GP staff in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and harassment. We are investing in improved security at general practitioner surgeries and we are working with the National Health Service to ensure primary care workers are supported.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many items of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been destroyed without use in the last twelve months; and what reasons were given for destroying those items of PPE.
Answered by Edward Argar
No items of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been destroyed in the last twelve months. However, the Department has disposed of over 33 million units. Where there is surplus stock, items are disposed of through sale, re-use, donations, recycling or returned to the supplier and the costs recovered.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on GP staff mental health in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS Practitioner Health is a service for doctors and dentists in England to support those with mental illness and addiction problems, who are working or looking to return to clinical practice. The service reported on the impact of COVID-19 in the period from October 2020 to March 2021 and found that from April 2020, the percentage of general practitioners (GPs) presenting to the service compared to other specialities decreased from 55% to 46% of all presentations.
The Keeping Well North West London staff support hub offers rapid psychological assessment, advice, emotional support, signposting and onward referral for National Health Service and social care staff, including general practice staff. The Hub has undertaken specific engagement with primary care staff, including GPs, and identified the need for specific support strategies for this staff group. The Hub plans to form a focus group with primary care staff to collaboratively design these strategies.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the recruitment and retention of GPs in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment scheme funds a £20,000 salary supplement to attract general practitioner (GP) trainees to work in areas of the country where training places have been unfilled for a number of years, including in Brent and London. In the London training schemes, in 2022 approximately 120 are being targeted at practices in deprived areas. In addition, National Health Service regional teams continue to deliver a number of projects through the GP Retention Fund.
We have also increased the number of GP training places. In 2021/22, 4,000 trainees accepted a place on GP training - an increase from 2,671 in 2014. The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new retention schemes alongside continued support for existing schemes for the general practice workforce. These include the GP Retention Scheme, the International Induction Programme, the Return to Practice Programme, the Fellowship Programme, the New to Partnership Payment and Supporting Mentors Scheme.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase core funding for general practice.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
‘A five-year framework for GP contract reform to implement The NHS Long Term Plan’, published in 2019, implements the commitments set out in the NHS Long Term Plan supported by an additional investment of £4.5 billion in primary medical and community care by 2023/24. In February 2020, we committed at least a further £1.5 billion in cash terms for general practice until 2023/24 for additional staff.