Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure sustainable workforce planning for GPs.

We recognise general practice is under pressure nationally and that is why we have committed to growing the workforce by 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals. This is in addition to the 20,000 primary care professionals NHS England is providing funding towards, and other commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan, with primary and community care set to receive at least £4.5 billion more a year by 2023/24, in real terms. The five-year General Practitioner Contract will provide greater financial security and certainty for practices to plan ahead. It will also see billions of extra pounds of investment for improved access, expanded services at local practices, the development of Primary Care Networks, launched in July 2019, and longer appointments for patients who need them.

The full People Plan, published later this year, will set out a broader strategy for a sustainable general practice workforce and how we will meet our commitments through both recruitment and retention programmes.