Oral Answers to Questions

Anna Turley Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dunne]

As my right hon. Friend will be aware, the UK National Screening Committee is reviewing the evidence for antenatal screening, including the use of enriched culture medium tests for group B streptococcus, following a public consultation. I understand that its recommendation will be published very soon, and I assure him that I will consider the recommendation very carefully and write to him with my view.

[Anna Turley (Redcar) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS England’s “General Practice Forward View” has the funding necessary to achieve its goals.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (David Mowat)]

“General Practice Forward View” announced that investment in general practice will increase from £9.6 billion in 2015-16 to more than £12 billion in 2020-21. This represents an increase of 14% in real terms, which is almost double the increase for the rest of the NHS. Two years into the forward view, we remain on track to deliver that.

[Anna Turley]

I appreciate the Minister’s response, but the reality on the ground in areas such as Redcar and Teesside is that we face a deficit of £281 million by 2020. How can he reassure my constituents, who are already finding it hard to get an appointment with a GP, that already scarce services will not become even more so?

[David Mowat]

We do recognise that in parts of the country there are shortages of GPs. As Members have heard, we are planning to have 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020, and a proportion of those will be in Teesside. It is important that we meet that goal.