Access to GPs
1/51. What steps his Department is taking to improve patient access to GPs.
4. What steps his Department is taking to improve patient access to GPs.
I am pleased to report that both access to general practice and patient satisfaction with general practice have improved since Labour came to office. Over 75% of patients find it easy to contact their practice —an improvement of 14 percentage points since the general election. Not only have we recruited an extra 2,500 GPs; crucially, more patients are receiving continuity of care, backed by an additional £1.1 billion. Lots done, lots to do, and certainly a long way to go, but general practice is on the road to recovery.
I am proud to see this Government’s improvements to GP services making a real difference locally, with over 2,000 more GPs hired and new investment already reaching practices like Jenner House surgery in Farnborough. However, many of my older and more vulnerable constituents tell me they are still struggling to get through on GP phone lines, especially as more practices move online. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that phone lines remain accessible for those who rely on them, so that everyone benefits from our NHS health plan? [Interruption.]
Well, Mr Speaker, you couldn’t script this! We have a doctor in the House—my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley)—whose phone was alive as this very issue was raised by my hon. Friend, such is the commitment of doctors in our NHS to be available to patients wherever and whenever they are needed. This Labour Government were elected on a pledge to end the 8 am scramble, and that is exactly what we are doing. We know that not everyone wants to contact their practice online. That is why practices must offer patients the option to telephone or visit in person in addition to online access. I thank GPs up and down the country for the work they are doing and the progress we are making in improving online access, access generally and patient satisfaction—lots done, lots to do.
The number of qualified GPs in Buckinghamshire has risen by 8% in the last year thanks to this Government’s determination to recruit and retain more GPs. It is a great start, but I still hear from too many people in Aylesbury who cannot get through to their GP surgery or cannot get a quick enough appointment when they do. My constituent Jane, whose husband had suffered a stroke, was advised that he needed a GP appointment the next day, but it took a month to get one. I know my right hon. Friend is determined to keep improving access to primary care for people in Aylesbury and across the country, so can he set out his next steps?
I certainly can, and I am sorry that my hon. Friend’s constituent was let down. Everyone who needs a same-day appointment should be able to book one, and that is what we are working towards. As she says, we are recruiting more GPs. We are also investing £102 million to create additional space for appointments, including in 21 GP practices in my hon. Friend’s local integrated care board system. Nowhere is the state of the NHS, and the crumbling legacy we inherited, more evident than in the NHS estate, and that is why I am proud that in her Budget, the Chancellor will be setting out plans to roll out a new generation of neighbourhood health centres to deal with the crumbling NHS we inherited and to build an NHS that is fit for the future.
Can’t be possible—we have not had the Budget yet!
There are a number of exciting opportunities for extended GP premises in my constituency—in places like Martins Oak in Battle, Little Common and Old Town, and Oldwood in Robertsbridge. One major challenge is the rates that the NHS district valuer is willing to offer for construction sites; they have just not kept up with the inflation we have seen across all sectors of construction. I did have a meeting with the Minister for Care and it was helpful to start those discussions, but we have not made the progress that we need to. Can we have a further meeting, and will the Secretary of State outline what he will do to ensure that district valuers are offering rates that can allow construction to go ahead?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising some of the practical challenges that stand in our way to improving and expanding the primary care estate. We are looking into the issues that he raises. We want to ensure that we can modernise the estate as effectively and quickly as possible. When there is progress to report, I have no doubt that the Minister for Care will be in touch.
Over the summer, my team and I conducted a health survey across my constituency, and 40% of those living in the most deprived and most urban parts of my patch—Heaviley, Little Moor and Great Moor—were struggling to access GPs. What more can the Secretary of State do to ensure that urban and deprived communities get their fair share of GP access?
I am sure that the hon. Member’s constituents will have noticed what an assiduous and active Member of Parliament she has been in actively soliciting their views. I hope that they and she will find it reassuring to know that we are taking action to deal with the very inequalities that she mentions. The Royal College of General Practitioners found that in the poorest parts of the country, there are an extra 300 patients per GP. It cannot be right that the poorest parts of the country receive the poorest service too. That is why we are reforming the Carr-Hill formula so that deprivation is the driver of funding and prioritisation. That will help us to improve services for everyone and to tackle the gross health inequalities that blight our society.