Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jess Brown-Fuller and Wes Streeting

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

Probably because being that prescriptive about every housing development is not sensible, even if the thrust of what the hon. Member describes—that as new housing development is built, we need to ensure that local infrastructure goes alongside it—is the right approach. I take what he says about the number of GPs, and as I have said, we do not pretend to have fixed all the problems in 11 months, but with respect, those are three more GPs than were there before. I know there is more to do, but give me time, and we will rebuild general practice for his constituents and anyone else’s.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

Access to GPs in my constituency of Chichester is being undermined by the closure of the Westbourne branch of Emsworth medical practice at the end of this month. Patients will now have to travel to Emsworth, but we are talking about a small rural village, and there is no public transport to get my elderly and vulnerable patients to that medical practice over the border. Will the Secretary of State please meet me to urgently discuss how we can protect this vital service in a rural village in Chichester?

[Wes Streeting]

I can well understand the hon. Member’s concern and her constituents’ concern. Practice closures are hard on communities wherever they are, but they disproportionately hit rural communities and those that suffer with poor transport connectivity. I would urge her in the first instance to raise the specific local issues with the ICB. However, I reassure her and other right hon. and hon. Members that the needs of rural, coastal and remote communities are very much in our mind—and, crucially, in the 10-year plan—and our thinking about how we build genuine neighbourhood health services in all types of neighbourhood.

NHS Performance: Darzi Investigation

Debate between Jess Brown-Fuller and Wes Streeting

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for her question. No, I do not think that the take-up rate is where it should be. That is why in the short time we have been in office we have put more effort and energy into vaccine take-up, but there is more to do. I welcome her to the House, and will not have a go at her for the record of the people who sat on the Government Benches just before the general election.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

At the end of September, a large GP federation serving patients across Sussex suddenly went bust, causing 130 redundancies; patient care was severely affected. The federation reported that the cause was a failure to obtain long-term contracts from any of its major clients, and the erosion of the real-terms value of contracts with both primary care networks and NHS Sussex. Does the Secretary of State agree that protecting continuity of service is key to public confidence in primary care, and will he meet me to discuss this case?

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for her intervention. I wish that this was a challenge only in her constituency; it is a challenge right across the country. As I said to the Royal College of GPs last week, it will take time to rebuild general practice, so that it is back where we want it to be. We would be delighted to hear more from her; I will ensure that my Department makes contact, and that a Minister is in touch about the challenge in her constituency.