Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capacity of GP services to meet demand in Lincolnshire.

General practice (GP) capacity is tracked through national datasets using several key metrics, such as the number of appointments offered each month and overall workforce levels. Patient feedback is gathered regularly through annual and monthly surveys. Lincolnshire scored below the national average in the most recent annual survey, but the latest monthly results show performance broadly in line with the national average. There is variation between practices within the integrated care board (ICB), influenced by factors such as operating models, population demographics, recruitment challenges, and access to other health and care services. To address this, the ICB is supporting practices through its local support offer and the national Practice Level Support programme, helping to manage demand and optimise capacity and access. Assessing demand and capacity remains complex, but these proxy metrics suggest Lincolnshire is broadly aligned with the national picture. As part of the national GP pilot, where Lincolnshire is one of 11 sites, we are exploring ways to optimise demand and capacity further.