Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of GP provision in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each GP is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients. There is no Government recommendation for how many patients a GP should have assigned, or the ratio of GPs or other practice staff to patients. The demands each patient places on their GP are different, and can be affected by many different factors, including rurality and patient demographics. It is necessary to consider the workforce for each practice as a whole, not only GPs, but also the range of health professionals available who are able to respond to the needs of their patients.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help grow the GP workforce in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to grow the workforce by boosting recruitment, addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of general practitioner training places will rise from 4,000 to 6,000 by 2031/32. The first 500 new places will be available from September 2025. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes to boost the general practice workforce.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support the recruitment and retention of GPs in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to grow the workforce by boosting recruitment, addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of general practice training places will rise from 4,000 to 6,000 by 2031/32. The first 500 new places will be available from September 2025. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes, to boost the general practice workforce.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the GP-to-patient ratio in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to reply to the hon Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent GPs are working in Enfield North constituency as of 21 May 2024.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to reply to the hon Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP surgeries are rated as good by the Care Quality Commission in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
75% of the four general practice locations in Enfield North are currently rated by the Care Quality Commission as Good overall. One further general practice surgery in Enfield North does not yet have a rating.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to provide additional services in GP surgeries in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Practices are able to provide Directed Enhanced Services and Enhanced Services by opting in, and will receive payment for these services separately to global sum payments. As commissioners of primary care, integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning Local Enhanced Services, which are not agreed nationally and can vary in scope and funding to fit local needs.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will bring forward an overarching national maternity strategy to aid the improvement of maternity services and prevent birth trauma.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England Chief Executive Officer Amanda Pritchard both support the overarching recommendation from the Birth Trauma All-party Parliamentary Group inquiry report, for a comprehensive national strategy to improve maternity services. We will update on next steps in due course.
We are already making good progress on many of the individual recommendations set out in the inquiry report. This includes new guidance for general practitioners on the postnatal check-up that women should be offered six to eight weeks after giving birth, which is solely focused on the mother. We are also rolling out new physical and mental health services for new mums and mums-to-be so that they are available in all areas of England.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the number of GPs currently seeking, yet unable to obtain, employment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice vacancies.
The Government remains committed to growing the number of doctors working in general practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes, including the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme and the Return to Practice Programme.
The headcount of doctors working in general practice in March 2024 was 4,282 more, including 2,709 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors, than in March 2019.
The latest available data, as of March 2024, shows that the headcount of doctors in general practice in England was 47,173, including 37,235 FTE doctors, of whom 37,399 (27,574 FTE) were fully qualified general practioners.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of GPs now seeking and unable to obtain employment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice vacancies.
The Government remains committed to growing the number of doctors working in general practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes, including the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme and the Return to Practice Programme.
The headcount of doctors working in general practice in March 2024 was 4,282 more, including 2,709 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors, than in March 2019.
The latest available data, as of March 2024, shows that the headcount of doctors in general practice in England was 47,173, including 37,235 FTE doctors, of whom 37,399 (27,574 FTE) were fully qualified general practioners.