General Practitioners: Recruitment and Retention

Baroness Wheeler Excerpts

Monday 12th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

The primary care plan was a very good example of something new, substantial and backed by £1.2 billion of investment to beat the 8 am morning rush and use technology—which I know the noble Lord is very interested in—to allow people to self-help in a lot of these situations.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

The Minister will know that the Health Foundation independent think tank summed up the Government’s recent primary care recovery plan as falling

“well short of addressing the fundamental issues affecting general practice”.

Staff shortages and the sheer number on NHS waiting lists are a key reason for such high demand on GP services. Do the Government accept that, unless they urgently get a grip on waiting lists, the crisis in general practice will only deepen?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

What we totally accept and believe is that primary care is where a stitch in time saves nine, to take that saying. That is why I believe that the primary care plan is a big step forward. As I said, the fact that we are doing 10% more appointments per day is significant, as is the Pharmacy First initiative that we have announced, which will bring on stream another 10 million appointments a year, allowing people to navigate whether a pharmacy is the best place for them to get treatment, in which case they can go there first. These are all practical plans that are in place and are making a difference.