Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of GPs in (a) Ealing Central and Acton constituency and (b) London.

We are working with NHS England and Health Education England to increase the general practice workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors choose to leave, and encourage them to return to practice in GPs across England, including in both the Ealing Central and Acton constituency and London.

The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new schemes, alongside continued support for existing recruitment and retention schemes for the general practice workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, the New to Partnership Payment and the Supporting Mentors Scheme.

To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw the highest ever number of doctors accepting a place on GP training: a record 4,032 trainees, up from 2,671 in 2014.