NHS: Specialist Services in Remote Areas Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Specialist Services in Remote Areas

Baroness Jolly Excerpts
Tuesday 11th December 2018

(5 years, 10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord O'Shaughnessy Portrait Lord O'Shaughnessy
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The noble Baroness is quite right. There is an urgent need to recruit more GPs. We continue to be committed to that. I am sure she will be pleased to hear there are more GPs in training than there ever have been. We are also providing a £20,000 salary supplement to GPs who go and practise in rural areas.

Baroness Jolly Portrait Baroness Jolly (LD)
- Hansard - -

As the noble Baroness said, there are occasions when a patient needs to see a specialist, but travelling to access specialist services is especially difficult for those on low incomes. What is NHS England doing to advertise the healthcare travel costs scheme to patients in rural areas? Do the Government hold information on how many eligible patients are claiming?

Lord O'Shaughnessy Portrait Lord O'Shaughnessy
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

There are a number of schemes, as the noble Baroness points out. As well as the travel costs scheme, there is the low-income scheme. They are designed to help people with those kinds of costs. I do not have the specific numbers about take-up, but I shall certainly write to her with those.