Oral Answers to Questions

Fleur Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

4. What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of primary care provision.

[Fleur Anderson (Putney) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking to improve access to GPs.

[The Minister for Public Health and Patient Safety (Dame Diana Johnson)]

We now have the highest number of fully qualified GPs since 2015, and almost 16 million more GP appointments were delivered in the last year than in the 12 months before the election. As a result of that investment, 77% of people now say that they have a good local service. We know that there is more to do, especially in rural and remote areas, but there is clear progress against our 10-year plan.

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman. I have looked at the issue around Oak Park community clinic and I know that he has met the integrated care board. I am told that all options are being considered to provide a sustainable and accessible solution for diagnostics at the Oak Park site, but I am happy to meet him.

[Fleur Anderson]

I am concerned about NHS England’s GP list cleaning programme and its impact on London specifically. Putney GPs have told me that in the last six months, 344,000 patients have been taken off GP lists, 44% of whom are in London. Some are taken off after not responding to a single letter. That means that they do not get cancer check-ups, vaccines or GP care. Something is going on with the London part of the GP lists. Will the Minister pause, review the programme, look into it and meet me and other London MPs to talk about it?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I understand the concerns that my hon. Friend has raised, particularly with regard to vulnerable patients, but it is important that GP lists are as accurate as possible. We think that there are around 6 million more registrations than England’s population and most people flagged are confirmed to have moved abroad. Strong safeguards are in place, including no patient being removed on the basis of a single indicator or because they failed to respond to one piece of correspondence. Overall, it takes more than five months from identifying a patient who may no longer reside to deregistering them from a practice system. I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend.