Layla Moran

The challenges facing the NHS are no secret. In my new role as Chair of the Select Committee, I have begun to meet key stakeholders. The list of things that we need to consider is enormous. I pay credit to those who stood for the Committee, and welcome those who made it on. I understand that Conservative members have been chosen, but I do not yet know who they are—I ask them to forgive me if they are here. I look forward to cracking on. I will start by highlighting to Ministers a few of the reports by the previous Committee, which I urge them to look at. One is on dentistry and another on pharmacies —and they are from 2023 and 2024, so they are extremely current. There is a note of frustration in the dentistry report as it points out that it makes the same recommendations that the Committee had made 15 years prior. I hope that this Government will take our Committee’s recommendations extremely seriously. Such cross-party recommendations are made thoughtfully—we are here to help. Today, I will focus on the GP crisis. Another Committee report from October 2022, for which I take no credit—it was done by the previous Committee, so credit should go to its previous Chairs and members—points out what we already know: GPs are overstretched and patients are frustrated. The British Medical Association reports that a single GP now manages an average of 2,282 patients, a significant increase on 2015 figures. I know that there are even more acute numbers across the country. That has led to longer waiting times and difficulty in accessing care. One of my constituents wrote to me about his wife, who was struggling to book a GP appointment. The surgery does not even take phone calls—or at least that was what she thought. It opens an online form for a few minutes at 8 am, and as soon as the appointments are gone, it closes the form. We then called the practice, which pointed out that patients could ring, although it seems that that message is not getting across to those patients. That experience is being felt across the country, but I do not blame the GPs, because they are trying their very best. The Royal College of General Practitioners found that over 40% of GPs might leave within the next five years, with stress being a key factor, and the crisis in general practice affects the entire NHS. When patients cannot see a GP, they often turn to A&E, worsening pressures on emergency departments. GPs play a vital role in managing long-term conditions and co-ordinating social care at both ends of that flow of patients. Without a functioning general practice system, the entire healthcare ecosystem suffers. So what can be done? The Committee made four main proposals, which I hope Ministers will include in their 10-year plan. First, we need to urgently increase the number of fully qualified GPs in the system. That means more than just training them: retention is also key. Secondly, we must embrace and improve digital health solutions, undertaking a full review of all primary care IT systems from the point of view of clinicians and patients. We also have to accept that for some people, digital just does not work.