The Humble Petition of residents of Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire and the surrounding area,
Sheweth,
That the Petitioners believe that the Higham Ferrers General Practise Surgery is facing significant strain and requires support to meet its waiting time and quality of care obligations to patients.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges the Department of Health, NHS England and the Higham Ferrers Surgery to work together to ensure that waiting times are reduced and the quality of care improves at the Higham Ferrers Surgery.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.—[Presented by Mr Peter Bone , Official Report, 20 July 2017; Vol. 627, c. 1096.]
[P002048]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine): We recognise the workload and recruitment pressures on GPs in the East Northamptonshire area. NHS England (Central Midlands) is holding regular meetings with the Higham Ferrers practice and we understand that Higham Ferrers is also working with nearby practices to find ways to improve the services they provide for their patients.
We are committed to improving GP services for patients. The General Practice Forward View published in April 2016 announced that investment in General Practice will increase from £9.6 billion in 2015/16 to over £12 billion by 2020/21, representing a 14% real-terms increase, almost double the real-terms increase for the rest of the NHS. As part of this, a £508 million five-year Sustainability & Transformation package is supporting practices in reducing workload, increasing efficiency and modernising infrastructure and technology.