Oral Answers to Questions

Helen Morgan Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I join my hon. Friend in commending all her local sporting organisations for the job they do. She is absolutely right that prevention is better than cure, and ensuring that we can support people to live healthy, fulfilling lives is absolutely part of our plan. That is why we are investing in football pitches, tennis courts and youth facilities right up and down the country, and I am glad that my hon. Friend’s constituents are benefiting.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Q10. Not only have the Government broken their promises on new hospitals; they have also broken their pledge to have 6,000 more doctors, with the number of qualified GPs having actually fallen. GPs in Shropshire are seeing 400 more patients each than they were in 2016, which is one of the biggest rises in the country. Places across the country—East Sussex, Devon, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire—have also seen their number of qualified GPs fall. When will the Prime Minister end his and the Government’s neglect of local health services, and recruit and retain the GPs we need?

[The Prime Minister]

The facts are these: there are 2,200 more GPs in general practice today, there are 15,000 more doctors in the NHS, and there are 30,000 more nurses. That is because we are putting record funding in, backing the NHS and getting patients the care that they need.