Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the retention rate of GPs.

We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave, and encourage them to return to practice.

NHS England has made a number of recruitment and retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, and the Supporting Mentors Scheme.

As announced in the 2023 Spring Budget, we are also increasing the annual allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 per year to encourage GPs to work more hours, and we are abolishing the lifetime allowance entirely so pension tax charges do not act as a driver for early retirements.