Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether steps he is taking to increase the GP workforce.

The Government remains committed to growing the general practitioner (GP) workforce and number of doctors in general practice and is determined to deliver this as soon as possible. We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.

To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. The number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.