Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are adequate numbers of GPs; and if he will discourage the movement of UK-trained GPs overseas.

Health Education England (HEE); NHS England; the Royal College of General Practitioners (GPs) and the British Medical Association GP Committee are working closely together to ensure that we have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in general practice.

As at September 2014, there were 36,920 full-time equivalent GPs working and training in the National Health Service. This is an increase of 1,677 since September 2010.

HEE will ensure a minimum of 3,250 trainees per year (equating to approximately half of the annual number of trainees completing foundation training and moving into specialisations) are recruited to GP training programmes in England by 2016.

In January, a £10 million investment was announced to kick start a new plan to expand the general practice workforce. The money will be used to recruit new GPs, retain those that are thinking of leaving the profession and encourage doctors to return to general practice to better meet the needs of patients now and for the future.

HEE identified a need for a national Induction and Refresher Scheme which was launched in March 2015 and is administered through the GP National Recruitment Office. Candidates now have a standardised entry point to help speed up the time it takes to process individuals through the scheme and also making it easier for candidates to access relevant information.