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) retain existing and (b) recruit new GPs in Sussex.

We are committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) across the country, including in Sussex. We invested an additional £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs.

We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.

Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession and we are tackling morale issues through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.

The fully qualified GP workforce in Sussex has increased by 6.3% or 51.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) compared to January 2024 and compared with 2.7% nationally or 1,019 FTE.

I understand that the Sussex Primary Care Workforce Plan was developed and published last year, and aims to further develop a sustainable healthcare workforce, ensuring high-quality patient care despite rising demand. The plan prioritises expanding the workforce, improving staff retention, and introducing innovative training methods.