Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) support and (b) resources his Department has provided to help support GP surgeries to (i) clear patient backlogs and (ii) reduce workloads in High Peak constituency.

We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to fixing this crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service. High Peak sits within the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 12.7% lower than the national average.

This government has committed to fixing the front door to the NHS by shifting the focus from hospitals and into the community. We know that if patients can’t get a GP appointment, they will end up in A&E, which is worse for them, and more expensive for the taxpayer.

NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we are providing £82m to fund the recruitment over 1,000 newly qualified GPs, to increase capacity and reduce workloads.

We are pleased to announce that newly qualified GPs will be included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment, with additional funding over 2024/25.