Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain General Practitioners in North Cornwall.

The Government has committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) across the country, to take the pressure off those currently working in the system, and NHS England has made a number of recruitment and retention schemes available to GPs. In addition, the Government will bring back the family doctor, incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so that ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively.

NHS England is working with practices in North Cornwall to create greater sustainability and offers a GP retainer scheme, which provides support to those returning to GP work. Practices are also supported with access to the primary care training hub which provides recruitment, development, and retention programmes, a general practice staff bank for Cornwall practices which helps provide short term locum support, and relocation funding that, following a successful application, can assist with recruiting for hard-to-fill roles.

In May 2024, the latest period for which data is available, there were 60.2 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in GPs in the North Cornwall constituency, and an average of 5.8 FTE doctors in GPs per 10,000 registered patients.