Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Kyrke-Smith and Wes Streeting

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

4. What steps his Department is taking to improve patient access to GPs.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

I am pleased to report that both access to general practice and patient satisfaction with general practice have improved since Labour came to office. Over 75% of patients find it easy to contact their practice —an improvement of 14 percentage points since the general election. Not only have we recruited an extra 2,500 GPs; crucially, more patients are receiving continuity of care, backed by an additional £1.1 billion. Lots done, lots to do, and certainly a long way to go, but general practice is on the road to recovery.

--- Later in debate ---

[Laura Kyrke-Smith]

The number of qualified GPs in Buckinghamshire has risen by 8% in the last year thanks to this Government’s determination to recruit and retain more GPs. It is a great start, but I still hear from too many people in Aylesbury who cannot get through to their GP surgery or cannot get a quick enough appointment when they do. My constituent Jane, whose husband had suffered a stroke, was advised that he needed a GP appointment the next day, but it took a month to get one. I know my right hon. Friend is determined to keep improving access to primary care for people in Aylesbury and across the country, so can he set out his next steps?

[Wes Streeting]

I certainly can, and I am sorry that my hon. Friend’s constituent was let down. Everyone who needs a same-day appointment should be able to book one, and that is what we are working towards. As she says, we are recruiting more GPs. We are also investing £102 million to create additional space for appointments, including in 21 GP practices in my hon. Friend’s local integrated care board system. Nowhere is the state of the NHS, and the crumbling legacy we inherited, more evident than in the NHS estate, and that is why I am proud that in her Budget, the Chancellor will be setting out plans to roll out a new generation of neighbourhood health centres to deal with the crumbling NHS we inherited and to build an NHS that is fit for the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Laura Kyrke-Smith and Wes Streeting

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I can certainly reassure the shadow Minister on this. The Minister for Public Health has already accepted that recommendation and is working at pace on implementation. May I wish the hon. Lady well in the Opposition reshuffle?

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

3. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 10-year health plan for England on perinatal mental health.

NHS England Update

Debate between Laura Kyrke-Smith and Wes Streeting

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

The reports relate to the deficits sent into NHS England ahead of the 2025-26 financial year. Those are completely unaffordable for the NHS and completely unrealistic. Those financial plans are being revised as we speak, which is why leaders have gathered in London today to receive that message and that set of instructions. I am asking frontline leaders to improve services and reform ways of working, and they will have my support in doing that. As for the resources that are going in, I gently point out that the investment that the Chancellor unlocked for the NHS and social care in her Budget dwarfs that which was promised in the Green party’s manifesto.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

I held a public consultation in my constituency on the future of the NHS. Participants were crystal clear that we need to cut bureaucracy and get resources to the frontline. When they talk about the frontline, they mean not just hospitals but people out in the community, and, crucially for my constituency, GP practices. Will the Secretary of State share more about how he intends to make that shift?