Select Committee · Health and Social Care Committee

The future of General Practice

Status: Closed Opened: 16 Nov 2021 Closed: 24 Jul 2023 20 recommendations 25 conclusions 1 report

The Committee has launched a new inquiry to explore the future of NHS general practice, examining the key challenges facing general practice over the next five years as well as the biggest current and ongoing barriers to access to general practice. General practice has seen significant changes in recent years, such as the development of …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth Report - The future of general practice HC 113 20 Oct 2022 45 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

6 items
12 Conclusion Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Further steps needed to address general practice administrative workload.

NHS England should take further steps to address the administrative workload in general practice, including by introducing e-prescribing in hospitals and focusing on the primary-secondary care interface by encouraging ICSs to provide a reporting tool for GPs to report inappropriate workload transfer.

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, stating it cannot establish requirements for a minimum fair share of administrative duties due to individual contractual arrangements between locums and practices.
Department of Health and Social Care
16 Conclusion Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Need to encourage locum GPs back into regular employment with flexible patterns.

As part of ongoing efforts to improve the retention of GPs, NHS England should include a specific focus on encouraging locum GPs back into regular employment by supporting GP practices to offer more flexible working patterns.

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, stating that continuity should be balanced with other PCN expectations, and PCNs should be empowered to make their own workforce decisions rather than having top-down requirements.
Department of Health and Social Care
17 Conclusion Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Prevent locum bidding wars and ensure fair administrative duty allocation.

Urgent work needs to be done to stop a bidding war for the serrvices of locums and establish requirements for a minimum fair share of administrative duties.

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation, arguing that a return to the personal list model is not the correct approach, and reiterates efforts to promote continuity of care through the named GP policy and the RCGP's Continuity of Care toolkit.
Department of Health and Social Care
29 Recommendation Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Examine limiting patient list sizes to 2500, reducing to 1850 over five years.

The Government should examine the possibility of limiting the list size of patients to, for example, 2500 on a list, which would slowly reduce to a figure of around 1850 over five years as more GPs are recruited as planned. These numbers should reflect varying levels of need in local …

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation to limit GP patient list sizes, stating that general practices determine their own workforce size and mix, patient care is delivered by a range of health professionals, and significant numbers of additional primary care professionals …
Department of Health and Social Care
30 Recommendation Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Necessity for re-implementing personal lists in the NHS GP contract from 2030.

NHS England should re-implement personal lists in the GP contract from 2030 onwards. (Paragraph 103) General practice and new NHS organisations

Government response. The government rejects the recommendation to re-implement personal lists. It will instead promote continuity of care through the 2023/24 GP contract and the Quality and Outcomes Framework Quality Improvement module.
Department of Health and Social Care
38 Recommendation Fourth Report - The future of general p… Rejected

Revise Carr-Hill formula and PCN funding to better account for deprivation and high need.

NHS England should revise the Carr-Hill formula to ensure that core funding given to GP practices is better weighted for deprivation. NHS England must also review new PCN funding mechanisms to ensure that they do not inadvertently restrict funding for areas which already have high levels of need.

Government response. The government partially accepts but rejects immediate revision of the Carr-Hill formula, stating it will not change during the current five-year contract. They note that NHS England keeps funding mechanisms, including PCN funding, under general review.
Department of Health and Social Care

Oral evidence sessions

4 sessions
Date Witnesses
12 Jul 2022 Dr Amanda Doyle · NHS England, Dr Nikki Kanani · NHS England, James Morris MP · Department of Health and Social Care, Matthew Style · Department of Health and Social Care View ↗
14 Jun 2022 Beccy Baird · King's Fund, Dr Margaret Ikpoh · Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr Peter Holden · Imperial Road Surgery, Mrs Heather Randle · Royal College of Nursing, Professor Mike Holmes · Haxby Group, Sir Robert Francis QC · HealthWatch England View ↗
18 May 2022 Dr Jacob Lee · Horfield Health Centre, Dr Kate Sidaway-Lee · St Leonard's Medical Practice, Dr Pauline Grant · Cheviot Road Surgery, Dr Rebecca Rosen · Nuffield Trust, Professor Steinar Hunskår · University of Bergen View ↗
15 Mar 2022 Dr Andrew Green, Retired GP, Dr Becks Fisher · The Health Foundation, Dr Kate Fallon · Somerton House Surgery, Dr Kieran Sharrock · British Medical Association (BMA), Professor Martin Marshall · Royal College of General Practitioners View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
11 Jan 2023 To cttee Letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Primary Care and Pub…
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Primary Care…