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1608152

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many practising GPs there were in England each year since 2015; and what the source of this information is.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175673
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice from September 2015 to September 2022.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Doctors in general practice, FTE</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2015</p></td><td><p>34,392</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2016</p></td><td><p>35,206</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2017</p></td><td><p>34,637</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2018</p></td><td><p>34,369</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2019</p></td><td><p>34,729</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2020</p></td><td><p>35,393</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2021</p></td><td><p>36,495</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2022</p></td><td><p>37,026</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: <a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services/28-february-2023" target="_blank">https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services/28-february-2023</a></p><p>Notes</p><ol><li>Data includes estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records.</li><li>Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.</li><li>Figures shown do not include staff working in Prisons, Army Bases, Educational Establishments, Specialist Care Centres including Drug Rehabilitation Centres, Walk-In Centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.</li><li>It is not recommended that comparisons be made between quarterly or monthly figures (e.g. Mar 16 to Sept 16) due to the unknown effect of seasonality on workforce numbers. As data in 2015 was only available for September, this month has been used to provide the FTE figure for each subsequent year.</li><li>Figures from the first three collections (September 2015, March 2016 and September 2016) should be treated with caution as the data submission rates from practices were appreciably lower than for subsequent reporting periods. This means that the reported figures for the early years of the collection may be lower than the true picture. In September 2015, which was the first extract from the new Workforce Minimum Data Set, only three of four Health Education England (HEE) regions submitted data. Consequently, September 2015 figures should be treated with additional caution.</li><li>From June 2018 onwards, the data source for GPs in Training Grade (foundation and specialty registrar trainees on placements in General Practice) changed to the HEE Trainee Information System (TIS). To ensure comparability across the national time series, data from both old and new sources was used to calculate estimates for previously uncounted GPs in Training Grade back to September 2015. Prior to TIS, the sources for the GP registrar data were the main General Practice Workforce data collection and an additional extract of medical trainees delivering primary care services who were paid through ESR. In GPs in Training Grade contracts 1 FTE = 40 hours, however to ensure consistency in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours.</li></ol> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 13:18:14 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608153

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Conditions of Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Royal College of General Practitioners entitled Fit for the Future: GP Pressures Report 2023, published March 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report on the pressures on general practice staff.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175674
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>We recognise the pressures that general practice (GP) staff are under. We have made several changes to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy for GPs to free up time for appointments, including expanding the range of healthcare professionals who can sign fit notes and publishing the ‘Bureaucracy busting concordat: principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and administrative burdens on general practice’.</p><p>The expanded primary care teams funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme will add extra clinical capacity.</p><p>We continue to work with the National Health Service to understand how we can help GPs and improve their working environment.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 11:16:07 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608154

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Doctors: Labour Turnover
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential number of GPs who will leave the profession within the next five years due to (a) stress, (b) other mental health conditions and (c) other factors other than retirement.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175675
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>The Department does not hold the data requested.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 12:59:40 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608155

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for general practices to meet changes in the level of patient demand.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175676
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>In January 2019, the Government, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association agreed to the most ambitious general practice (GP) contract in recent years. The resulting five-year framework for GP contract reform implements the commitments set out in the NHS Long Term Plan and is underpinned by a record level of additional investment in primary medical and community care (an extra £4.5 billion by 2023/24). This was updated in 2020 to invest at least an extra £1.5 billion to increase and diversify the general practice workforce.</p><p>The global sum allocation formula which underpins capitation payments to GPs is designed to ensure that resources are directed to practices based on an estimate of their expected patient demand and unavoidable practice costs. Under this formula, practices whose registered patients have greater healthcare needs are paid more per patient than practices whose registered patients have fewer healthcare needs. The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including GPs, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.</p><p>The multi-year GP Contract provides funding clarity and certainty to practices until 2023/24. The current framework ends in April 2024. Future funding arrangements for GPs will be considered in due course.</p><p>No specific assessments have been made, however, in October 2021, the Government and NHS England published a package of measures, and made £250 million available for a Winter Access Fund to support practices and increase capacity. Examples of how the Winter Access Fund was used included additional hubs and helplines, expanding home visiting capacity, and funding additional sessions from staff.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 175679 question first answered 04/04/2023 12:50:19 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608156

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Royal College of General Practitioners entitled Fit for the Future: GP Pressures Report 2023, published March 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report that (a) 57% of general practice staff said they have not accessed winter support and funding due to a lack of flexibility on how the funding can be used and (b) 35% of general practice staff said they have not accessed winter support and funding because the application process is too lengthy or difficult; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175677
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>No specific assessment has been made.</p><p>In Autumn 2021, the Government and NHS England published a package of measures, and made £250 million available for a Winter Access Fund to support general practices (GPs) and increase capacity. Examples of how the Winter Access Fund was used included additional hubs and helplines, expanding home visiting capacity, and funding additional sessions from staff.</p><p>In Autumn 2022, we relaxed funding rules to give Primary Care Networks greater freedom to recruit new roles such as GP Assistants and Digital Transformation Leads, to bolster GP teams, free up clinical time and reduce the administrative burden on GPs.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 13:11:20 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608158

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of a flexible funding plan for general practice to deal with surges in demand.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>In January 2019, the Government, NHS England and NHS Improvement and the general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association agreed to the most ambitious general practice (GP) contract in recent years. The resulting five-year framework for GP contract reform implements the commitments set out in the NHS Long Term Plan and is underpinned by a record level of additional investment in primary medical and community care (an extra £4.5 billion by 2023/24). This was updated in 2020 to invest at least an extra £1.5 billion to increase and diversify the general practice workforce.</p><p>The global sum allocation formula which underpins capitation payments to GPs is designed to ensure that resources are directed to practices based on an estimate of their expected patient demand and unavoidable practice costs. Under this formula, practices whose registered patients have greater healthcare needs are paid more per patient than practices whose registered patients have fewer healthcare needs. The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient medical services, including GPs, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.</p><p>The multi-year GP Contract provides funding clarity and certainty to practices until 2023/24. The current framework ends in April 2024. Future funding arrangements for GPs will be considered in due course.</p><p>No specific assessments have been made, however, in October 2021, the Government and NHS England published a package of measures, and made £250 million available for a Winter Access Fund to support practices and increase capacity. Examples of how the Winter Access Fund was used included additional hubs and helplines, expanding home visiting capacity, and funding additional sessions from staff.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 175676 question first answered 04/04/2023 12:50:20 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608159

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing for additional clinical staff in general practice.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175680
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>We remain committed to growing and diversifying the general practice (GP) workforce. Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), Primary Care Networks have recruited over 23,000 additional staff including pharmacists, physiotherapists, and social prescribing link workers. These roles provide appointments and perform clinical and administrative tasks as part of the wider GP multi-disciplinary team.</p><p>The ARRS has expanded the number of roles that can be recruited, with Advanced Practice Nurses becoming reimbursable through the scheme from 1 April 2023.</p><p>NHS England committed to a review of the ARRS by the end of 2023. This work will cover the performance of the scheme to date and inform the Government’s approach to any future support for additional clinical roles in GPs.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 12:55:42 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608161

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Administration
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing for additional administrative resources in general practice.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175682
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>We remain committed to growing and diversifying the general practice (GP) workforce. Through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) Primary Care Networks (PCNs) have recruited a wide variety of roles including those that can perform administrative duties such as GP assistants and Digital and Transformation leads.</p><p>In addition to the administrative resource recruited through the ARRS, PCNs receive funding to support their ongoing development and operations and Health Education England have developed a competency framework for care navigators to encourage a coherent approach to providing care navigation.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 12:58:02 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608162

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of additional funding for premises upgrades in general practice.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>Capital funding for primary care is allocated on a regional basis using a weighted population approach that considers local populations growing annually. From 2022/23, a substantial proportion of primary care business as usual estates and general practice (GP) IT capital is included within integrated care system (ICS) operational capital funding. This allows systems to take a more cohesive approach to capital across all organisations within that system. Additional funding beyond this would be subject to a future Spending Review.</p><p>Individual decisions around the prioritisation of capital funding for health facilities are largely delegated to local areas or individual GPs. The local ICS would need to identify options and explore what potential there may be for upgraded health facilities. The commissioning body will need to assess any revenue implications and pressures on the overall primary care budget that derive from premises upgrades, and from reimbursing GP contract holders’ premises costs.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 04/04/2023 13:20:14 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark

1608163

registered interest
date	28/03/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	General Practitioners: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of providing additional funding for IT upgrades in general practice.
tabling member constituency	Enfield North
tabling member printed	Feryal Clark
uin	175684
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2023 answer text <p>The General Practice Forward View, published in 2016, set out our ambition to increase digital use and investment in general practices (GPs), and is available at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/general-practice-forward-view-gpfv/" target="_blank">https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/general-practice-forward-view-gpfv/</a></p><p> </p><p>This was followed by the NHS Long Term Plan and A Plan for Digital Health and Social Care, which both include actions to drive digital and technology transformation in GPs to deliver efficient services and improve patient care and access.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England ensures that modern, integrated, secure and user-friendly digital systems are available through the GP IT Operating Model, the Digital Care Services catalogue and the GP IT Futures frameworks. This work supports ongoing improvements to procurement processes, a greater choice of nationally accredited digital suppliers and products that meet core standards, requirements and capabilities to ensure GP IT systems continually evolve and advance with minimal impact and disruption to care.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien grouped question UIN 175693 175736 question first answered 04/04/2023 13:05:11 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4822 label Biography information for Feryal Clark