Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Courts Excerpts

Tuesday 7th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[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.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

Since March 2019, GPs have recruited over 25,000 staff such as pharmacists, physiotherapists and mental health practitioners, and we are on track to hit our 26,000 additional staff commitment.

--- Later in debate ---

[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.

[Robert Courts]

Demand for GP appointments in Oxfordshire is indeed acute. It is driven in part by the need to continue to treat people with long-term medical conditions. Will my right hon. Friend consider what can be done to rebalance the system, so that instead of dealing with people when they present with acute symptoms, more is done to ensure people can be treated at the primary and community level?

[Steve Barclay]

My hon. Friend highlights an absolutely brilliant point, one I am extremely seized of, which is: how do we get detection much sooner, looking at genomics, screening and identifying issues before the patient is even necessarily aware that they have a condition. Early care delivers far better patient outcomes but it is also far cheaper to deliver. That prevention, as he highlights, is extremely important.