NHS: Shortage of GPs and Nurses

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Wednesday 8th May 2019 Lords Chamber

Tabled by

[Lord Clark of Windermere]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to recent reports that there is a serious shortage of GPs and nurses working in the NHS.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government recognise the pressure on the NHS workforce. The forthcoming NHS people plan will set out how we will attract more people into training and keep the workforce that we have in the NHS. In 2018, Health Education England recruited a record 3,473 junior doctors into GP specialty training—a 10% increase since 2017. Demand for nursing courses is strong: the latest data, published this February, showed a 4.5% increase in the number of applicants compared with 2018.

[Lord Clark of Windermere]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her Answer and acknowledge her long-term commitment to the National Health Service. I shall not just swap statistics with her—that is easy—but I wish the Government would not keep repeating basic statistics. She talked about an increase in the number of GPs, but we have the lowest number of GPs for more than 50 years, with patients on occasion having to wait seven weeks for an appointment. We know that there is a 40,000 shortage in the number of nurses and that, according to the interim report that the Government have received and despite all their efforts, that figure could increase to 68,500. That report states that shortages in nursing are the single biggest and most urgent problem. Instead of playing around, will the Government seriously address the drastic situation that our NHS is in? We truly survive because of the efforts of the staff.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

I thank the noble Lord for his Question and I echo his sentiments exactly in thanking GPs, nurses and all of our NHS workforce. Probably every noble Lord in this Chamber has a personal story of owing the NHS for personal service, as we do as a nation. That is exactly why the Government have put in a serious plan to address the challenges within the workforce. First, within the long-term plan we identified an increase in funding that is higher within general practice and community care than the wider increase in funding of £4.5 billion. Secondly, we have recruited the highest number of GP trainees ever. This is not swapping statistics, this is identifying the fact that we are being successful in recruiting into a challenging specialty. Thirdly, we are opening brand new medical schools to ensure that we have the capacity to increase training, while recognising that it takes time to grow a doctor. Fourthly, we are putting in place incentive programmes to make sure that the job is more attractive, so that we can retain those individuals.

Within the new general practice contract framework we have put funding in place for up to 20,000 more support and technical staff working in GP practices in order to relieve the pressure within that job. This will help bring down delays in getting appointments and make sure that the job is more attractive in itself. When it comes to nursing, we have put in place a pipeline, with new nursing associates and the new nursing degree apprenticeship, and we see this starting to pay off. So there is an improving picture, but there is still some way to go. We are making sure that we put in place a serious plan and we are determined to deliver on it.