Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners' report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published March 2023, what assessment he has made for the implication for his policies of the 65 per cent of staff who said their practice was at risk of closing over the next few months.

The closure of a general practice (GP) surgery is an issue that is considered and decided upon by local commissioners following an application from a GP provider. It is for local commissioners to determine what services and care pathways to put in place to best serve the needs of their patient population.

We remain committed to growing the GP workforce and are working with NHS England to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave and encourage them to return. We are investing at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million GP appointments by 2024 by increasing and diversifying the workforce.