Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department offers to GP practices which are at risk of closure; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England to ensure that patients in all areas have access to general practitioner (GP) services. The General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, includes a national £508 million five-year Sustainability and Transformation package to support struggling practices, further develop the workforce, tackle workload and stimulate care redesign.

NHS England’s West Midlands regional team prioritised 45 practices for support under the Vulnerable Practices Programme of which 25 were identified in Birmingham South Central and Birmingham Cross City Clinical Commissioning Groups. The criteria for selection may include practices at risk of closure, but will also include practices not necessarily at risk of closure, but identified as vulnerable.

Comprehensive data on practice closures is not held centrally. Practices may close for a variety of reasons, including mergers with neighbouring practices or the retirement of GPs from single-handed practices.