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 support general practitioners to (a) provide the best care possible, (b) manage their workload and (c) cope with increasing budgetary pressures.

We will launch a recovery plan for general practice (GPs) in the coming weeks. This will focus on supporting GPs through providing them with the technology and tools that will help them deal with ever-increasing demand. Since September 2022 Our Plan for Patients has helped practices to recruit more support staff so GPs can spend their time doing the tasks only a GP can do and put in place state-of-the art telephone systems to make it easier to manage demand, triage callers, and ensure patients are seen at the right time by the right clinician for their needs.

In 2019 we agreed a five year GP contract framework with the British Medical Association (BMA) which was underpinned by a record level of additional investment. This was underpinned by an additional £4.5 billion for primary and community care by 2023/24 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. We invested a further £1.5 billion announced in 2020 to create an additional 50 million GP appointments by 2024 by increasing and diversifying the workforce. We also made £520 million available to improve access and expand general practice capacity during the pandemic. As agreed with the general practitioners committee of the BMA in 2019 as part of the five-year GP contract, the investment envelope is fixed, and no further funding will be provided. The five year framework ends in March 2024. Future funding arrangements for GP will be considered in due course.

As part of the 2020/21 GP contract to help maximise the time available for clinical tasks, the Government committed to a thorough review of levels of bureaucracy in GPs. As part of this work, in August 2022, a cross-Government concordat was published setting out seven principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in general practice. The Department is continuing to work across Government and with the National Health Service to implement the solutions that emerge.

We recognise that high workloads can act as a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. The expanded primary care teams funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme will add extra clinical capacity

Public sector businesses are covered by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, and so have the unit price of energy capped. HM Treasury have announced that from April 2023, a new scheme, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme to support businesses. The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets.

We have accepted the independent pay review body’s (the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration) recommendation. The minimum and maximum pay thresholds for salaried GPs are being uplifted by 4.5%. The multi-year GP Contract provides funding clarity and certainty to practices until 2023/24. The agreed investment envelope is fixed and the core settlement covers all aspects of practice income and expenses, including salaried GP pay. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is for GP practices to determine uplifts in pay for their employees and themselves within the agreed GP contract funding envelope.

GP contractors are entitled to financial assistance or reimbursement of premises costs, including notional or actual rent, business rates, water rates, and clinical waste disposal. The commissioner has discretion to provide further financial assistance if other costs rise exponentially, such as service charges, all budget dependent.