Labour says it will train 7,500 more GPs a year

Labour has pledged to “end the postcode lottery of care” by training 7,500 more GPs a year and “guaranteeing face-to-face appointments”.

The pledge comes following new research from the opposition, which found that up to three quarters of patients in some parts of England are not able to see the GP of their choice.

Indeed, 77% of patients in Fenland, 75% in Gosport, and 74% in Solihull see or speak to their preferred GP ‘some of the time or almost never’.

The analysis also found that roughly 40% of people were offered a telephone appointment when they wanted to see their GP in person, while in Slough, Hastings and Eden, only half of appointments were face-to-face in February.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “It’s much better for patients to see the GP who knows their medical history, face to face if they wish. But patients are finding it impossible to get an appointment at all, let alone with the doctor they want, in the manner they choose.”

For this reason, Labour says it will double the number of doctors trained, and this will be paid for by abolishing the non-domicile tax status, which allows a person who was born in another country (or if their parent is from another country) to pay tax in the UK only on their UK income.

 GPs want to see a “bold new plan”

But health leaders from the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association are concerned that the plans will not address the immediate staffing crisis facing the NHS, and they say the Labour party needs to give more detail on how they will retain the current workforce.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said: “It’s always encouraging to hear promises to grow the number of GPs in the UK – but we need to see comprehensive plans as to how this will be achieved. Increasing medical school placements is a good and necessary start, but it will take a long time to see the impact of this on the front line, benefitting patients, and GPs and our teams are struggling now – we’ll also need to ensure a significant number of this expanded cohort of medical students choose general practice.

“In the shorter-medium term we need to see plans to retain the current workforce and allow them to spend more time with patients. The College has called for a well-funded national retention scheme that covers GPs at all stages in their careers.”

Prof Hawthorne notes that there are “no quick fixes” for the problems the NHS is currently facing, and GPs want to see a “bold new plan” to fix the staffing crisis, as well as “significant investment” in GP practices and IT systems to make it easier for patients to access care.

“Government must also take steps to cut bureaucracy so that GPs have more time to deliver care to the growing numbers of patients who need it, but the bottom line is we need many more GPs,” she added.

Shifting the focus towards what can be done now

Dr Richard van Mellaerts, deputy chair of GPC England at the BMA, has echoed these concerns, and says while it is “encouraging” to see the Labour party addressing the GP workforce crisis, it is “disappointing” that the party has implied “existing staff are somehow not doing enough”.

He highlights that the workforce crisis is making it increasingly hard for GPs to give patients the care they deserve, and practices are now offering patients “a range of consultation modes”, with many patients opting for telephone appointments for ease.

“What we really needed from this plan was an emphasis on staff retention, and keeping existing doctors in the NHS for longer – not only to treat patients, but to also guide and mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals. Expanding medical school places is a good idea, but it takes 10 years to train a GP.

“Focusing on what can be done now to help support staff is what’s most needed – not pointing the finger at them, and risking driving more away,” he said.