Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many single-handed general practitioner practices are operating in (1) England, and (2) London.

The latest figures, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in September 2013, show that there are 891 single-handed general practitioner (GP) practices in England, representing 11.2% of the total number of GP practices in England.

There are 1,445 GP practices in London, of which 238 are single-handed GP practices, representing 16.5% of the GP practices in London.

NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care services and has advised that there are no plans to close existing small or single-handed practices. The aim is to look at how primary care services can continue to be developed to offer patients better access and more choice.