Oral Answers to Questions

Layla Moran Excerpts

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dr Kieran Mullan (Crewe and Nantwich) (Con)]

16. What progress his Department has made on increasing the number of primary care staff.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

19. What steps is he taking to increase the number of GPs.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

20. What progress his Department has made on increasing the number of primary care staff.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is why I commissioned through NHS England a review of 111. It was initially designed for a different purpose. That allows the GP service to be the front door it has become in the NHS. Through the chief executive of Milton Keynes University Hospital, we have done significant work on the NHS app, so it can better enable patients to get to the right place for the care they need.

[Layla Moran]

In January, over 45,000 people in Oxfordshire waited more than two weeks to see their GP and 12,000 waited over a month. The top reason given when I visited surgeries was that they simply cannot recruit the doctors they need. For example, Kennington health centre has been forced to close part time because it cannot find a replacement for a retiring partner. That is clearly unsustainable. Will the Secretary of State consider introducing a weighting for GPs in areas of high cost of living outside London? Will he meet me to discuss the specific issues in Oxfordshire?

[Steve Barclay]

The hon. Member is right to highlight the pressure on primary care, which is why, in the answer I gave a moment ago, I said it is also about looking at the wider skills mix within primary care. She mentions doctors specifically. We have 2,200 more doctors in general practice than before the pandemic. It is about having the right skills mix alongside the doctors to meet the significant increased demand since the pandemic.