Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase the number of GPs in Essex.

We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England as a whole, which includes Essex. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.

We have increased the number of GP training places and in 2022 saw the highest ever number of doctors accepting a place in GP training, a record 4,032 trainees, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places becoming available from September 2025.