Commonwealth Fund Report: NHS Ranking

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 14th September 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, we are investing a tremendous amount in preventive care, and I agree with the noble Baroness that this is key to the future—to better and longer lives and, on my noble friend’s point, to increasing the productivity of our healthcare system. I have already mentioned the key components of our preventive agenda and I add to that list the £325 million that we have allocated to the diagnostic fund precisely to catch disease earlier, to give people the treatments they need earlier, and to bring down the cost of our healthcare service.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, is one of the reasons for this decline the fact that we have fewer doctors per head than almost any other country in the OECD? When the Prime Minister announced 6,000 new doctors, did he know that it takes six years to train a doctor? In fact, the numbers have gone down rather than up, so what will the Minister and his colleagues do now to improve the position?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, we are grateful to GPs and doctors for the work that they do. Of course, the way to get more GPs is partly by training them, partly by retaining them, and partly by working with GPs from overseas who come and serve in the NHS. That is how we are meeting our commitments on raising the number of GPs in the NHS.