Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Medical Association's analysis of pressures in general practice, published 11 November 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the findings in that report for (a) the quality of delivered care, (b) the capacity of GP surgeries to deliver care to all registered patients and (c) targets to have an additional 6,000 GPs by 2024 in (i) Slough, (ii) the South East, (iii) England and (iv) the UK.

Whilst no specific assessment has been made of the findings in Slough, the South East and the United Kingdom, we are investing £250 million in a Winter Access Fund to support general practice teams in England and improve access. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Access Improvement Programme is supporting 900 practices with the greatest access challenges, expanding to support a further 200 practices, to ensure that patients receive the same high quality of care.

We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England. There were 1,841 more full time equivalent doctors in general practice in September 2021, compared to September 2019. Trainee general practitioners are also helping to ease workloads, increase capacity and allow more patients to get the care they need.