Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) GP and (b) dental provision in Whitehill and Bordon; and if he will take steps to improve that provision.

The Government knows that patients are finding it harder than ever to access general practices (GP) and is committed to fixing the the crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service.

Our plan to restore GPs will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs, ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system, and trialing new neighborhood health centers to bring community health services together under one roof. Furthermore, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient.

Whitehill and Bordon sits within the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 8.2% lower than the national average.

The Government knows that getting an NHS dentist has become increasingly difficult, and is aware that there are many areas of the country where these difficulties are particularly pronounced. The Government will tackle the immediate dental crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most.

Our annual statistics show that in 2023 only 36% of the adult population in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB were seen by an NHS dentist in the last two years, compared with 41% nationally.