Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether steps he is taking to increase the GP workforce.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government remains committed to growing the general practitioner (GP) workforce and number of doctors in general practice and is determined to deliver this as soon as possible. We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. The number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the share of NHS funding for general practice to shift care into the community.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increase investment in primary medical and community health services as a share of the planned total national revenue spend in the National Health Service across the five years from 2019/20 to 2023/24. Investment in general practice has grown in each of the last five years for which we have published the investment in general practice report. In 2021/22, which is the latest year for which data is available, we saw a 7.14% growth in investment compared with 2020/21. The full report is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/investment-in-general-practice-in-england-17-18-to-21-22/
The Delivery Plan For Recovering Access to Primary Care, published by NHS England on 9 May 2023, recognised the benefits of moving care closer to home and supported the vision set out in Dr Claire Fuller’s Stocktake on Next steps For Integrating Primary Care. This is backed by a major new investment into primary care services, with up to £645 million over two years to expand the services offered by community pharmacies, helping to take the pressure off general practitioners and providing patients with more options for care.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve infrastructure for general practices.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
We want general practitioners (GPs) to deliver the best quality of care to patients and will continue our work to assess what is needed to enable them to deliver services effectively in GP premises.
The Government has allocated over £4 billion annually in capital funding to systems to invest in maintaining the National Health Service estate and address safety issues. In addition, in our primary care recovery plan we committed to changing local authority planning guidance to raise the profile of primary care facilities when planners are considering how developer contributions and funds from new housing developments are allocated. NHS funding, including for primary care, is determined at each Spending Review.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the General Dental Council on steps to help reduce the time taken to approve qualified dentists.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department works closely with the General Dental Council (GDC) to support them to reduce the time taken to register suitably qualified dentists. In March 2023, we introduced legislation that gives the GDC greater flexibility to expand the registration routes for international applicants and improve its international registration processes. We welcome the GDC’s recent announcement that it has doubled the size of its registration casework team to improve its registration application processing times for dentists and dental care professionals.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending eye care liaison officer provision to provide (a) emotional support and (b) practical advice for newly diagnosed individuals.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Government recognises the profound impact that sight loss can have on a person’s life and the important and valuable role that Eye Clinic Liaison Officers can play in supporting patients at the point of diagnosis. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning all secondary care ophthalmology services, with decisions made locally on the configuration and provision of such services.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce waiting lists for ophthalmology care and (b) ensure that access to care is prioritised according to need.
Answered by Will Quince
We are taking action to recover elective services, including ophthalmology, by working towards the targets set out in the Elective Recovery Plan and providing the National Health Service with record levels of staffing and funding. We plan to transform the way the NHS provides elective care by increasing activity, including through dedicated and protected surgical hubs, focusing on providing high-volume, low-complexity surgery as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. These hubs will initially focus on driving improvement in six high volume specialties, one of these being ophthalmology.
The most recent published data from NHS England shows that the average wait time for referral to treatment for ophthalmology was 12.3 weeks, below the national average of 14.5 weeks.
The NHS will triage patients waiting for elective care through three key stages: firstly, through clinical prioritisation, ensuring the order in which patients are seen reflects clinical judgement on need; secondly, by managing long waits through targeting support to reduce the number of people waiting a long time; and thirdly, increasing the number of cancer referrals, ensuring that those patients who have not yet presented to services are included. These considerations are critical in improving overall health outcomes, underpinned by new investment and new technology.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve recruitment and retention in (a) GP services and (b) dentistry services in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England, including Portsmouth South. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice. NHS England has made available several new schemes, alongside continued support for existing recruitment and retention schemes for the general practice workforce.
To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. The number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.
We are also taking steps to address the dental workforce challenges across the country. As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we are going to increase dentistry training places by 40% so that there are over 1,100 places by 2031/32. We know that we must go further and that is why we are working with the sector and NHSE to consider further wider-reaching changes to improve the system.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the General Dental Council on proposed changes to the Overseas Registration Exam.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department works closely with the General Dental Council (GDC) to support the efficient delivery of the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), whilst maintaining high standards within the dental profession. We welcome the GDC’s recent announcement that it has increased the number of places available to sit both parts of the ORE in 2023 and 2024. This will enable individuals with overseas qualifications to more quickly gain the opportunity to become registered dentists in the United Kingdom. Legislative changes that came into force in March 2023 have given the GDC greater flexibility in the running of the ORE. The GDC recently consulted on routes to registration for internationally qualified dentists and dental care professionals, including rules relating to the ORE. We look forward to GDC publishing the outcome of this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the number of mutual recognition schemes in dentistry qualifications.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals practising in the United Kingdom. In March 2023, we introduced legislation that gives the GDC greater flexibility to expand the registration routes for international applicants and improve its international registration processes. This includes giving the GDC the ability to recognise overseas diplomas as demonstrating the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience for registration in the UK.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 people on waiting lists for GP appointments in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
General practice does not operate with waiting lists. NHS England publishes monthly data on General Practice Appointments, including the approximate length of time between appointments being booked and taking place, but this is not a proxy for “waiting times”.
There are several factors which can influence the timing of appointments, and it is not possible to estimate the time between the patient’s first attempt to contact their surgery and an appointment.