GP Services in Rural Areas

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The right reverend Prelate is quite right. We need to expand the wider workforce to support GPs. One reason this has been such a challenge is the shortage of the wider workforce. That is why there was a commitment in the people plan to recruit 20,000 extra staff—such as physiotherapists, pharmacists and nurses—for GP practices, to ensure that we can provide the support staff for sustainable community services. There is an emphasis on moving towards more community care. That is why the funding has been provided, and why there is such an emphasis on that part of the service.

[Baroness Jolly (LD)]

My Lords, I live in a very rural part of Cornwall. My GP practice is 18 miles away. It struggles to recruit GPs and then to keep them. The proportion of the English population who live in rural areas is 19%—the equivalent of the population of London. Can the Minister explain why very few NHS plans consider rurality, with its high levels of deprivation and loneliness and their associated diseases? Might that be one reason why GPs choose not to work there, or why they do not stay for long?

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The noble Baroness is very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country, but she is right that rurality has a significant impact on health outcomes. It is considered as part of a number of plans. As for recruitment and retention, these have been part of the plans that the NHS has brought in, particularly for GPs. That is why we have had the recruitment and retention plan for hard-to-reach areas for GPs since 2016. We are evaluating that programme and are still considering it.