Oral Answers to Questions

Stuart Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to improve access to GP surgeries in North East Bedfordshire constituency.

[Stuart Anderson (Wolverhampton South West) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to improve access to GPs.

[Laura Farris (Newbury) (Con)]

20. What steps he is taking to improve access to GPs.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Hancock]

That is an incredibly important point. We have a manifesto commitment to ensure that where there is new housing there is also new primary care. Just as a new housing estate will often require a new primary school and new transport links, so we need to put in the GPs as well.

[Stuart Anderson]

I thank the Secretary of State for visiting Tettenhall Wood surgery in my constituency during the general election campaign. Will he work with me to increase the numbers of patient appointments back up to where they were before?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. My hon. Friend has already become an incredibly strong voice for Wolverhampton, and it was a pleasure to visit Tettenhall medical practice, which has joined with other GP practices to form a primary care network, which I hope will strengthen its resilience and enable it to provide extended access to appointments, which is what he is campaigning for. I am pleased, too, with the extra 16,000 appointments in Wolverhampton in the last quarter. As this shows, we are driving up the number of appointments, but we also appreciate, understand and feel the frustration people feel when they cannot get decent access to GP appointments.