Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the article Practice under pressure: how can the exodus of GPs be reversed published on 31 August by Dr Imelda McDermott and Dr Sharon Spooner, what consideration they have given to the introduction of new business models for general practices; and what discussions they have had with general practices about the introduction of new business models.

General Practice (GP) partnerships, individually and through Primary Care Networks, deliver high quality care to patients all over the country. The Government continues to support the partnership model which has underpinned general practice since before the establishment of the National Health Service, and has many advantages. While partnerships holding a GP contract will continue to be in the majority, it is important that sustainable alternative models are available to mitigate difficulties in recruitment and retention.

The partnership model is not the only model currently delivering general practice. GP practices can and do choose to organise themselves in different ways to support scale and resilience, many of which cite evidence of good outcomes in terms of staff engagement and patient experience.