Theresa Villiers
Main Page: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)Department Debates - View all Theresa Villiers's debates with the Leader of the House
(9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Penny Mordaunt
I am sorry to hear about that situation in the hon. Lady’s constituency and will certainly ensure that the Secretary of State hears what she has said today. I hope also that the organisation she refers to has heard her words and can come to some accommodation with its residents.
Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con)
May we have a debate on improving access to GP appointments? In the north-central London area, the number of appointments in GP practices per month is now 680,000—50,000 up on last year—which is a huge improvement, but a debate would give us an opportunity to discuss how Pharmacy First can enable people to get treatment from their pharmacist, freeing up more GP appointments for patients with more complex conditions.
Penny Mordaunt
I thank my right hon. Friend for raising this matter. General practices are now delivering 20% more appointments than they were pre-pandemic, and more than 33 million appointments were carried out in January of this year alone. We have also brought in, as she rightly points out, Pharmacy First. I think that this has been well received in our communities, but of course there is always more we can do to publicise these new services, which are available to everyone in our community. The next Health and Social Care questions are not until after Easter, so I will ensure that the Department has heard what she has said.