Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners' publication, entitled General Practice in crisis: An action plan for recovery, whether he plans to take steps to implement that plan.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has asked for action in five priority areas, including: more doctors in general practice; reducing unnecessary workload, fit-for-purpose infrastructure; and general practice representation in integrated care systems (ICSs). We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement to implement the related actions in the NHS Long Term Plan and expand general practice by recruiting 26,000 additional primary care staff by 2024.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are reviewing of levels of bureaucracy in general practice as part of the 2020/21 GP Contract agreement, working closely with stakeholders including the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association.

Since 2016 we have invested £800 million in improving primary care estate and technology. Further infrastructure funding will be confirmed after the forthcoming Spending Review. The We are clear that primary care should be represented and involved in decision-making at all levels of ICSs, including strategic decision-making forums.