Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of what ratio of patients to GPs is considered safe in the development of general practice policy.

No formal assessment has been made. There is no recommendation for how many patients should be allocated to a general practitioner (GP), as the demand each patient places on their GP can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. GPs form part of a multidisciplinary team, therefore ensuring the appropriate skills are available in general practice can address workload pressures and deliver appropriate patient care.