Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to (a) improve GP access and (b) help reduce waiting times at Medway Maritime Hospital's emergency department in Gillingham and Rainham constituency.

We are improving capacity in general practices (GPs). We have invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of over 2,000 more GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. As a result, we have successfully delivered an additional 11.5 million GP appointments for patients compared to the same period last year, meaning more patients are getting the support they need, when they need it. Patient satisfaction has also risen from 60.9% in July 2024, to 76.5% in May 2026, up 16.5 percentage points.

The Government is committed to improving urgent and emergency care services and reducing waits in emergency departments, including in Medway Maritime Hospital. The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework and the newly published Model Emergency Department set out the long-term approach to delivering safer, more efficient urgent and emergency care, reducing overcrowding and long waits, and improving patient experience. NHS England has also set ambitious improvement trajectories for accident and emergency performance over the coming years.

Through the 2025/26 Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, nearly £250 million was invested in same day and urgent care services to help avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and support faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge.