Primary Care: Quality and Access Improvements

Baroness Merron Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2022 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Merron]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the variations in the quality of primary care across England, including access to GP services; and what plans they have to improve quality and access.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, we are working to expand and diversify the general practice workforce to create an additional 50 million appointments a year, which should improve access for patients across England. NHS England continues to provide support to practices working in the most challenging circumstances in order to provide better access to patients via its accelerated access improvement programme.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, clearly the Government have no chance of meeting their target of 6,000 additional MPs, or rather, GPs—they might be happy with that at the other end—by 2024, when this month the BMA is reporting that there are over 1,700 fewer GPs. More GPs are seeking to leave, the population is growing and, as we know, health problems are ever more complex. In the light of this, will the Government review the numbers of promised GPs? What urgent and specific action can the Minister offer to those who cannot get an appointment, particularly in the more deprived areas and those places identified for levelling-up support?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, we have 1,400 more full-time equivalent doctors working in general practice compared with March 2019. But the noble Baroness is right that we must do even more to expand the numbers. We have a record 4,000 trainees who have accepted a place on GP training this year. Another element is the wider primary care workforce, where we are on track to meet our commitment of 26,000 additional patient care staff working in primary care. The most deprived areas are being targeted for the accelerated access improvement programme, which is providing tailored support to practices in those areas to improve access.