Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to increase the rate of retention of GPs.

In January 2019 we announced in the NHS Long Term Plan that we are investing an extra £4.5 billion in primary and community care by 2024. This was followed by the five-year general practitioner (GP) contract, which will provide greater financial security and certainty for practices to plan ahead and will see billions of extra investment for improved access, expanded services at local practices, the development of primary care networks and longer appointments for patients who need them.

To address workload pressures and building on the success in expanding the wider workforce, the new five-year contract for general practice will see funding towards up to 20,000 extra staff working in GP practices, such as physiotherapists and pharmacists. This will help free up doctors to spend more time with the patients who need them.

The interim People Plan published in June 2019 set out the actions the National Health Service will take now to secure the right staff, leadership and culture it needs to deliver the Long Term Plan and high quality, safe care. A final People Plan will be published shortly after the conclusion of the Spending Review, once there is further clarity on education and training budgets. The final People Plan will set out a broader strategy for a sustainable general practice workforce, through both recruitment and retention programmes.