Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of NHS flexible working practices on levels of GP recruitment and retention.

The Government actively encourages better flexible working such as job-sharing and part-time hours. To support retention, the National GP Retention scheme is a package of financial and educational support to help doctors who might otherwise leave the profession remain in clinical practice.

However, as self-employed contractors to the National Health Service to provide primary medical services, it is largely up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. Employers have the flexibility to set terms and conditions, including to aid recruitment and retention.