| answer text |
<p>Each general practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs
of their registered population. There is no recommendation for how many patients a
general practitioner (GP) should have, as the demand each patient places on their
GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient
demographics. The workforce required for each practice to meet patient needs also
includes a range of health professionals in addition to GPs themselves, and the best
skill mix is for practices to determine.</p><p>NHS England and Health Education England
(HEE) are working together with the profession to increase the GP workforce in England.
This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why GPs are leaving
the profession, and encourage GPs to return to practice.</p><p>Last year, Health Education
England recruited the highest number of GP trainees ever and the Targeted Enhanced
Recruitment Scheme (TERs) is attracting GP trainees to parts of the country where
there have been consistent shortages of GP trainees. Over 500 trainees entered the
TERs scheme in 2016-2018 and a further 276 are available in 2019.</p><p>NHS England
has committed to further expanding community based multi-disciplinary teams and will
provide funding for around 20,000 other staff in primary care networks by 2023/24.
This builds on the extra 3,700 non-GP clinical staff already working in general practice,
compared to 2015 and will mean bigger teams of staff, providing a wider range of care
options for patients and freeing up more time for GPs to focus on those with more
complex needs.</p><p>The recently published NHS Long Term Plan made a clear commitment
to the future of general practice, with primary and community care set to receive
at least £4.5 billion more in real terms a year by 2023/24 – meaning their funding
will grow faster than the rising National Health Service budget. Since the launch
of the Long Term Plan, NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners
Committee have agreed a five-year GP (General Medical Services) contract framework
from 2019/20. The new contract framework will be essential to deliver the ambitions
set out in the NHS Long Term Plan through strong general practice services.</p>
|
|
