Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of GP services in South Dorset constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We promised to improve access to GPs, and that’s exactly what we are doing. This year we have invested an additional £601m in the GP contract and we’ve delivered 8 million more appointments than last year, with South Dorset seeing an increase of 27,000. We have 2,000 more fully-qualified GPs than in July 2024, which includes 12 extra GPs in Dorset ICB, an increase of 3% and from this year we're enabling PCNs to recruit a broader range of roles to improve access to services. At a local level, NHS Dorset ICB has the responsibility for commissioning services to meet the needs of my honourable friend’s constituency.